IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


1.1 


lit 
III     I 
u 

■I  la  I* 


■4.0 


Ui& 


iL25  III  1.4 


ly^i 


1.6 


Hiotographic 

Sdences 

Corporation 


a>^ 


<^ 


2S  WIST  MAIN  STRIET 

WKBSTU.N.Y.  I45M 

(716)«73-4S03 


-*% 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Instituta  for  Historical  IMicroraproductions  /  institut  Canadian  da  microraproductions  hiatoriquas 


Taehnioal  and  BIMIographie  NotM/NotM  taehniquM  tc  bibiiographiquM 


Th«  InttituM  hM  attamptad  to  obtain  tha  baat 
original  copy  availabia  for  filming.  Faaturaa  of  thia 
copy  which  may  ba  MMiographically  uniqua, 
which  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagaa  In  tha 
raproduction,  or  which  may  aigniflcantly  changa 
tha  uaual  mathod  of  filming,  ara  ohaeiiad  balow. 


□   Colourod  covara/ 
Couvartura  da  coulaur 


r~n   Covara  damagad/ 


Couvartura  andommag^a 


□  Covara  raatorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Couvartura  >aataur4a  at/ou  pallieuMa 

□   Covar  titia  miaaing/ 
La  titra  da  couvartura  manqua 

□  CokMirad  mapa/ 
Cartaa  gAographiquaa  an  coulaur 

□   Colourad  ink  (i.a.  othar  than  blua  or  blacic)/ 
Encra  da  coulaur  (i.a.  autra  qua  Maua  ou  noira) 

I — I   Colourad  plataa  and/or  illuatrationa/ 


D 
D 


D 


D 


Planchaa  at/ou  illuatrationa  1%  coulaur 


Bound  with  othar  matarial/ 
Rali4  avac  d'autraa  documanta 


Tight  binding  may  eauaa  ahadowa  or  diatortlon 
along  intarior  margin/ 

Lar«liura  sarria  paut  cauaar  da  I'ombra  ou  da  la 
diatoraion  la  long  da  la  marga  Intiriaura 

Blank  laavaa  addad  during  raatoration  may 
appaar  within  tha  taxt.  Whanavar  poaaibla.  thaaa 
hava  baan  omittad  from  filming/ 
II  aa  paut  qua  cartainaa  pagaa  blanehaa  ajoutiaa 
lora  d'una  raatauration  apparaiaaant  dana  la  taxta, 
maia,  loraqua  cala  4tait  poaaibla.  caa  pagaa  n'ont 
paa  «t«  film^aa. 

Additional  commanta:/ 
Commantairaa  tupplAmantairaa: 


Thac 
toth( 


L'Inatitut  a  microfilm*  la  maillaur  axampiaira 
qu1l  lui  a  At*  poaaibla  da  aa  procurer.  Laa  dAtaila 
da  cat  asamplaira  qui  sont  paut-4tra  uniquaa  du 
point  da  vua  bibliographiqua.  qui  pauvant  modif  iar 
una  imaga  raproduita.  ou  qui  pauvant  axigar  una 
modifksation  dana  la  mithoda  normala  da  filmaga 
aont  indiquAa  ci-daaaoua. 

□  Colourad  pagaa/ 
Pagaa  da  eoulaur 

□  Pagaa  damagad/ 
Pagaa  andommagAaa 

□   Pagaa  raatorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Pagaa  raatauriaa  at/ou  palliculAaa 

0   Pagaa  diacoiourad.  stainad  or  foxad/ 
Pagaa 


D 


Thai 
poaal 
of  th( 
filmii 


Origli 
bagir 
thak 
aton. 
othai 
firati 
alon. 
or  nil 


Pagaa  d4color*aa.  tachatiaa  ou  piquAaa 

Pagaa  datachad/ 
Pagaa  ditachiaa 


T~7\   Showthrough/ 


Tranaparanca 

Quality  of  prir 

Qualiti  inAgala  da  I'impraaaion 

Includaa  aupplamantary  matarii 
Comprand  du  matirial  auppl4mantaira 

Only  adMon  availabia/ 
Sauia  Mition  diaponibia 


|~n   Quality  of  print  variaa/ 

rn   Includaa  aupplamantary  matarial/ 

I — I   Only  adition  availabia/ 


Thai 
ahall 
TINU 
whic 

Mapi 
dlffai 
antiri 
bagii 
right 
raqui 
matf 


Pagaa  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  arrata 
slipa.  tisauaa.  ate.  hava  baan  rafilmad  to 
ansura  tha  baat  poaaibla  imaga/ 
Laa  pagaa  totalamant  ou  partiailamant 
obacurciaa  par  un  fauillat  d'arrata.  una  paiura, 
ate.,  ont  *t*  filmiaa  i  nouvaau  da  fa^on  * 
obtanir  la  maillaura  imaga  poaaibla. 


Thia  Itam  ia  filmed  at  tha  reduction  ratio  cliecked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  da  rMuction  indiqu*  ci*daaaoua. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


2BX 


30X 


y 

12X 


1SX 


aox 


a4x 


2SX 


32X 


r "■ —  '                  ■■                                           ■■     

V 

Tha  copy  fHtnad  hara  haa  baan  raproducad  thanka 
to  tha  ganaroalty  of: 

L'axamplalra  fllm«  fut  raproduh  grioa  A  la 

• 

ktails 
1  du 

Douglaa  Library 
Quaan's  Univaraity 

Douglas  Library 
Quaan's  Univaraity 

odifiar 

r  una 
maga 

Tha  imagaa  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  baat  quality 
poaalbia  conaMarlng  tha  condition  and  laglblNty 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  kaaping  wrMi  tha 

Laa  imagaa  sulvantaa  ont  4tA  raproduitaa  avac  la 
plua  grand  soln.  compta  tanu  da  la  condftlon  at 
da  la  nottat*  da  I'axamplalra  flim4,  at  an 
conformit*  avac  laa  conditlona  du  contrat  da 
flimago. 

■ 

Original  copiaa  in  printad  papar  covara  ara  fllmad 
baginning  wMi  tha  front  eovar  and  anding  on 
tha  iaat  paga  with  a  printad  or  iliuatratad  impraa- 
aion,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  approprlata.  All 
othar  original  copiaa  ara  fiimad  baginning  on  tha 
firat  paga  with  a  printad  or  Hluatratad  Impraa- 
sion,  and  anding  on  tha  Iaat  paga  vvlth  a  printad 
or  iliuatratad  impraaaion. 

Laa  axamplairaa  orlginaux  dont  to  couvartura  an 
paplar  aat  Imprlmte  aont  film4a  an  comman^am 
par  to  pramtor  ptot  at  an  tarmlnam  solt  par  to 
damtora  paga  qui  comporta  una  ampralnta 
dimpraaalon  ou  dlNuatratlon,  aoit  par  to  aacond 
ptot,  aaton  to  caa.  Toua  laa  autrac  axamptolraa 
orlginaux  aont  fllmte  an  comman^am  par  la 
pramtora  paga  qui  comporta  una  ampralnta 
dimpraaalon  ou  d'lliuatration  at  an'tarmlnant  par 
to  damtora  paga  qui  comporta  una  taito 
ampralnta. 

Tha  last  racordad  frama  on  aach  microfiche 
shall  contain  tha  symbol  -^  (moaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  tha  symbol  ▼  (moaning  "END"), 
whichavar  appiias. 

Un  daa  symboiaa  auhrants  apparattra  sur  la 
darniira  imaga  da  chaqua  mteroficha.  salon  la 
caa:  la  symbda  -^  signlfia  "A  8UIVRE".  to 
symboto  ▼  signifto  "FIN". 

IMaps,  piataa.  charta,  ate.,  may  ba  fiimad  at 
diffarant  raduction  ratios.  Thoaa  too  iarga  to  ba 
antiraly  included  in  ona  axpoaura  ara  fiimad 
baginning  in  tha  uppar  laft  hand  comar,  laft  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  framas  aa 
raquirad.  Tha  following  diagrams  iilustrata  tha 

mathod: 

i 

L«s  cartas,  pianchaa.  tableaux,  ate,  pauvant  itra 
fllmto  *  das  taux  da  rMuctlon  diffArants. 
Lorsqua  to  document  aat  trop  grand  pour  fttra 
reproduit  en  un  aeui  citeh*,  il  eat  film*  i  partir 
da  i'angto  supMeur  gauche,  do  gauche  i  droite, 
et  do  haut  an  baa,  an  prenant  to  nombre 
d'imagae  niceaaalra.  Lea  dtogrammas  suivehts 
iilustrent  to  m«thode. 

1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

p  J*f  ■ 


:m 


i>i* 


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'^\ 


,V 


!!«.' 


»■  f.\ 


.S'.f.1 


'f*il 


!j| 


fj'i? 


ii.d 


.  AMONG  THE  AMERICANS 


AlCD 


A  STRANGER  IN  AMERICA. 


By  George  Jacob  Holyoake. 


'  "  He  ties  up  hands 
Who  locks  up  lands: 
The  lands  which  can't  be  sold  and  bought 
Bring  men  and  States  to  worse  than  nought: 
The  lands  which  can  be  freely  sold 
Are  worth  a  world  of  barren  gold.  " 

— Ebenezbr  Elliott* 


CHICAGO: 
.  BELPORD,  CLARKE    &   CO. 

1881. 


^^      ^Kd^.Wlk 


COPTRXOHTKD. 

BELFORD,  CLARKE  &  Go. 
1881. 


PRINTSD  AND  BOUND  BY 

DONOHUE  A  HENNBBERKY, 
ciacAoa 


,0 


CONTENTS 


^ 
S 

S 
^ 


> 


Chapter 
Chapter 
Chapter 
Chapter 
Chapter 
Chapter 

Chapter 
Chapter 


I.- 

II. 
III. 
IV.— 

V 
VI.— 

VII.— 
VIII.— 


Chapter      IX. — '. 


Chapter 

X.— 

Chafper 

XL— 

Chapter 

XII.— 

Chapter  XIII.— 

Chapter  XIV — 

Chapter 

XV.— 

Sea  "Ways  and  Sea  Society 17 

Courtesies  of  New  York 81 

Tiie  Republican  Convention  at  Saratoga.. . .  47 

Propagandist  Uses  of  Interviewing 65 

Men  of  Action  in  Boston 69 

City   of    Holyolce  —  Discourses    in    Free 

Cliurclies 87 

Wanderings  in  Five  Great  Cities 95 

American  Orators  —  Wendell  Phillips,  Col. 

R.  G.  IngersoU,  and  George  W.  Curtis.. .  Ill 

Famous  Preachers — Henry  Ward  Beecher, 

Robert  Collyer,  and  Prof.  Felix  Adler^ .  131 

Co-operation  in  the  New  World.  rT 18S'^ 

State  Socialism  in  America,  y: 143  ^ 

Co-operative  Emigration — Visits  to  the  Pre- 
mier of  Canada  and  President  of  America.  163  '^ 

'Wayside  Incidents. 163  . 

Manners  and  Opinions  in  America 183 

Emigrant  Education 105 

A  Stranger  in   America,  from  the  "  Nine- 
teenth Century." 

317901 


Preface  to  the  American  Edition. 


The  portion  of  these  pages  entitled  *^  Among  the  Americans,"  was 
■written  for  the  Manchester  "Co-operative  News."  Messrs.  Belford, 
Clarke  &  Co.  do  me  the  honor  to  reprint  these  papers  here,  together 
with  the  article  contributed  to  the  "  Nineteenth  Century,"  entitled, 
"  A  Stranger  in  America,"  and  they  have  generously  and  voluntarily 
agreed  to  give  me  a  fair  share  of  the  profits  that  may  accrue  theriefrom. 
As  they  are  pleased  to  think  the  papers  will  interest  the  American 
people,  among  whom  I  spent  happy  months,  I  should  feel  indebted  to 
them  did  no  advantage  come  to  me  thereby.  I  will  not  conceal  that 
their  honorable  offer  does  not  decrease  my  satisfaction ;  and  I  have  to 
acknowledge  that  the  "New  York  Tribune"  and  he  "Index,"  of 
Boston,  which  has  published  passages  from  these  Chapters,  have 
treated  me  in  the  same  handsome  manner. 

John  Bull,  in  his  solid,  bovine  way,  does  make  steady  progress  after 
his  kind.  But  his  dietary,  consisting  of  precedents,  is  not  very  stimu- 
lating, and  he  takes  a  long  time  chewing  the  cud  of  progress.  Like 
the  oxen  of  Cuyp,  he  stands  meditating  over  the  hedge  of  his  verdant 
little  island,  looking  as  though  he  was  going  to  think:  but  he  is  so 
long  about  it  that  the  spectator  never  feels  svare  thaX  he  does  it. 

If  anybody  in  England  proposes  to  do  a  new  thing,  everybody 
exclaims,  like  Lord  Melbourne,  "  Can  you  not  let  it  alone?    If  you  do 


XIV 


Preface* 


\ 


it  everybody  will  do  it."  But  everybody  does  not  do  it.  England  is 
a  country  where  nothing  leads  to  anything,  and  anything  leads  to 
nothing. 

Three  centuries  ago  the  Reformation  broke  out,  when  it  was  pre- 
dicted that  everybody  wguld  come  to  liave  ideas  of  his  OM'n.  A  few 
new  creeds  flew  into  the  air  and  alighted  upon  ledges  in  the  old  rocka 
of  opinion,  where  they  have  nestled  in  inadventufous  content,  and  the 
groves  of  thought  have  seldom  since  been  enlivened  by  new  brightness 
of  plumage  or  cheered  by  varieties  of  song.  The  republican  equality 
and  the  republican  freedom  of  America,  with  their  infinite  Incentives 
and  fertility  of  aspirations,  were  to  me  as  a  land  of  new  color  and  new 
notes,  where  the  minds  of  the  people,  like  keyless  watches,  wind  them- 

m 

selves  up  and  always  keep  going.  I  should  have  been  glad  to  live 
there  for  years,  so  as  to  write  about  it;  as  it  is,  I  content  myself  with 
relating  a  few  of  the  things  which  I  noticed. 

It  is  not  intended  that  these  papers,  now  collected  into  a  book  form, 
should  be  regarded  as  a  **  book  upon  America."  That  would  be  a  very 
absurd  pretension.  These  pages  are  the  story  of  nearly  four  months 
travel,  and  if  I  had  been  in  America  four  years  I  should  not  think 
myself  competent  to  write  a  "book  about  America."  Only  an 
ex-Pt  esident  could  write  that  in  a  complete  way.  When  I  returned 
home  my  friends  naturally  asked  me  what  I  thought  of  a  country  I 
had  never  seen  before.  What  I  have  written  is  what  I  told  them. 
It  is  a  mere  fireside  story  of  what  interested  me. 

G.  J.  H. 

Newcastle  Chambers,     ) 
Essex  St.,  Temple  Bar.  \ 

London^  Aprils  1881. 


AMONG  THE  AMERICANS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


SEA   WAYS   AND  SEA   SOCIETY. 


IN  England  we  have  sea-side  books.  My  friend,  the  late 
George  Heriry  Lewes,  who  wrote  upon  most  things 
better  than  many  men  of  mark  write  upon  any  one,  wrote 
a  charming  sea-side  book.  But  I  never  remember  to  have 
seen  a  sea-book.  A  man  who  has  made  many  voyages  in 
different  vessels  to  the  chief  countries  of  the  world,  might 
supply  a  very  useful  and  popular  book,  teaching  the  voyager 
what  to  expect  and  what  to  avoid.  All  I  knew  was  that 
mathematically  the  least  motion  occurred  in  midship.  That 
even  sickness  must  have  its  conditions — that  temperance  in 
eating  and  drinking  was  likely  to  answer  upon  sea  as  well 
as  upon  land;  and  that  resting  horizontally  after  meals  had 
its  advantages,  and  that  lemon  and  biscuit  (if  hunger  oc- 
curred in  the  early  morning)  were  useful.  Sickness  did  not 
occur  to  me,  although  we  had  head -winds  outward  and 
homeward  each  voyage,  which  delayed  us  nearly  two  days 
each  way.     I  spent  an  idle  week  in  Liverpool  before  setting 


i8 


AMONG   TUB   AMKRICAN8. 


out,  niul  nnothcr  in  New  York  before  returning^,  ab  bciny^ 
})vrfcctly  rcHtcd  before  .1  voya{ife  Rickncss  itself  Would  bo 
IcHM  fatiguing.  I  could  write  n  little  mnnunl  nbout  ship  ex- 
IKM'ience  iin  far  an  I  acquired  it;  but  it  would  be  abiiurtl  and 
miHleading  to  many  without  further  knowledge  of  diflferent 
kinds  of  ships,  varying  seas,  and  vicissitude  of  storm,  climate, 
and  shipwreck — the  last  I  have  not  tried.  Only  on6  rule 
may  be  mentioned  here,  which  I  observed  in  America  r.H 
well  as  on  the  sea.  Deing  in  new  climates  and  in  new 
cities,  of  whose  sanitary  condition  I  knew  nothing,  I  trusted 
to  temperance  in  eating,  to  temperance  in  fatigue  and  in 
exposure,  for  security  in  health,  and  found  it.  I  have  oh* 
served  that^  excitement,  worry,  or  fatigue,  whether  of  pain 
or  pleasure,  alike  pave  the  way  to  illness. 

I  selected  the  Cunard  line  because  I  knew  less  of  the 
habits  of  other  vessiels.  This  line  has  lost  two  ships,  but 
during  forty  years  it  is  ix'puted  not  to  have  lost  a  passenger. 
This  furnishes  a  sense  of  security  which  is  very  profitable 
to  the  line,  and  diminishes  the  sickness  among  many  voy- 
agers. Traveller,  however,  have  assured  me  that  more 
space  and  comfort  arc  to  be  found  in  the  ships  of  some  other 
lines.  The  Cunanls  travel  in  a  prescribed  path,  and  have 
the  merit  of  not  caring  to  outracc  other  vessels,  and  will 
even  take  a  day  or  two  longer  rather  than  incur  risk.  They 
act  upon  the  principle  that  it  is  better  for  passengers  to  be 
late  than  be  lost.  Good  imagination  is  a  powerful  quality 
at  sea.  Many  passcngei's  become  sick  by  suffering  their 
eyes  to  rest  upon  the  waves,  as  the  sea  appears  to  mount 
and  fall  around  them.  I  was  surprised  to  find  that  the 
otlicers  and  sailors  of  the  Cunard  ships,  to  whose  skill  and 


AMONG   TIIR   AMERICANS. 


«9 


wfltchfulnesn  pAARcngers  owe  much  of  their  «ecurity,  do  not 
receive  higher  wages  thnn  men  in  otlier  vessels.  On  the 
second  Sunday  of  a  voyage  a  collection  is  made  for  the 
wi(V)W8  and  orphans  of  seamen.  These  ought  to  be  pro- 
vllcd  for  otherwise,  after  the  manner  of  the  Bill  lately 
passed  in  Parliament  for  the  compensation  of  workmen 
who  suffer  injury  or  loss  of  life  in  their  employment,  and 
the  subscription  made  on  board  should  be  given  to  the  com- 
mon sailors  there  and  then,  to  who'.c  good  seamanship  it  is 
mainly  owing  that  you  are  alive  to  subscribe  at  all. 

Sailing,  as  a  rule,  is  attended  with  no  more  risk  to  life 
than  railway  travelling,  and  since  the  facilities  for  &  tiling  in- 
crease every  year,  the  time  is  not  far  distant  whc.i  every- 
body will  sail  somewhere.  A  good  book,  therefore,  upon 
the  "Art  of  being  a  Sea  Passenger"  would  be  as  useful  as 
one  on  the  Art  of  Swimming.  Out  at  sea  some  persons 
prefer  a  rolling  motion  to  the  heaving;  some  can  sleep  over 
the  screw  (which  I  could  do  myself,  although  it  seemed  to 
be  grinding  under  my  pillow).  A  ship  has  such  a  variety 
of  motion  and  sound  that  the  passenger  can  take  a  choice. 
The  stoutest  disciple  of  Dr.  Darwin  is  generally  content 
with  the  fertility  of  evolution  on  the  ocean.  So  many 
people  have  got  to  go  to  sea  that  the  nature  of  the  going 
I  tought  to  be  explained.  In  the  steerage,  where  the  heaving 
is  greatest — that  part  of  the  ship  often  rises  out  of  the  water 
and,  of  course,  goes  down  again — sickness  is  prevalent;  yet 
children  recover  from  sickness  much  sooner  than  their 
parents,  probably  because  they  know  less  about  it  and  do 
not  make  themselves  miserable  by  gratuitous  imagination. 
While  their  parents  are  pale  and  apprehensive,  I  saw  the 


20 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


'■  ■ 


children  delighted  at  being  rolled  about  the  deck  and  nobody 
doing  it.  The  drollery  of  that  diverted  them  greatly.  In 
the  saloon,  when  passengers  first  see  the  storm  fences  on  the 
table,  they  lose  their  appetite  for  the  repast ;  the  children 
think  it  very  droll,  and  eat  with  a  new  sense  of  pleasure. 

A  voyage  is  indeed  a  source  of  recreation  and  diversion 
of  mind  beyond  what  any  who  have  never  made  a  voyage 
imagine.  Ideas  are  often  absolutely  suspended.  "  Dirty  " 
weather  comes  and  discolors  them ;  "  nasty  "  weather  per- 
turbs them ;  *'  fresh  "  weather  gives  them  quite  a  new  turn ; 
a  rain  "  squall "  comes  and  softens  them ;  a  "  gale  "  disperses 
them ;  a  "  storm  "  dashes  them  against  each  other,  bending 
them  or  breaking  them ;  a  "  cyclone  "  gives  a  rotary  motion 
to  the  most  fixed  ideas ;  a  "  hurricane  "  seems  to  blow  them 
all  finally  away,  and  it  is  some  time  before  the  most  diligent 
shepherd  of  his  thoughts  gets  them  into  the  old  fold  again. 
The  machinery  of  the  mind  is  unlimbered,  and  only  the 
best  fitting  parts  are  ever  got  into  position  again. 

It  is  thus  that  the  ocean  is  entertaining  and  recreative 
The  fresh  wind  blows  through  your  mind.  Cries  of  sailors, 
straining  of  cordage  and  planks,  creaking  of  the  stubborn 
masts,  beatings  of  the  "  steely  sea,"  the  roar  of  the  revenge- 
ful blast,  the  clanking  of  the  iron  slaves  within — I  regarded 
as  companions  of  the  voyage.  All  the  while  the  brave  en-- 
gines  are  driving  you  through  the  turbulent  and  disappoint- 
ed waves.  Three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  every  day  and 
night, 

The  puls'is  of  their  iron  hearts 
Go  beating  through  the  storm. 


AMONG    THE   AMERICANS. 


21 


The  passage  between  England  and  Ireland,  I  was  told, 

[would  prove  unpleasant,  but  that  when  we  got  into  the 
Atlantic,  the  sailing  would  improve.  When  we  reached 
Queenstown,the  more  experienced  passengers  observed  that 
we  should  know  how  to  appreciate  the  serenity  of  the  Irish 

{passage,  when  we  had  a  taste  of  the  "  roll  of  the  Atlantic," 
which  was  very  encouraging.     Every  day  brought  some 

[promise  of  novelty.  Until  I  was  on  the  Atlantic,  I  had 
never  seen  the  sea  alive.     I  had  heard  of  "seas  as  smooth  as 

Iglass."     What  I  saw  was  a  sea  as  smooth  as  mountains. 

[The  Atlantic  is  a  genuine  American  ocean;    it  is  never 

5till. 

The  white  crests  of  the  waves  appeared  to  me  like  white 
Ibirds  coming  over  the  distant  waters.     It  was  quite  a  new 
[experience  to  see  dark  clouds  a  great  distance  before  us, 
[where  rain  and  squall  were  raging,  and  know  that  we  had 
Ito  sail  through  them ;  and  when  in  a  squall  which  appeared 
Kit  first  as  though  it  would  last  always,  we  could  soon  see 
the  sun  and  blue  sky  a  long  way  off,  and  it  was  pleasant  to 
Itliscover  that  we  should  ride  into  the  bright  sea  under  them, 
[f  a  storm  did  not  extend  over  an  area  of  sixty  miles,  we 
were  through  it  in  four   hours,  unless  head  winds  blew, 
'he  screw  of  the  vessel  was  then  half  out  of  the  water, 
ilbeit  the  head  winds  generally  did  blow  with  us. 
In  consequence  of  what  was  said  in  the  "  Pall  Mall  Ga- 
sette  "  concerning  the  treatment  of  poor  steerage  passen- 
gers of  the  Cunard  Line,  I  went  over  the  steerage  quarters, 
)oth  in  the  "  Bothnia  "  and  the  "  Gallia."     It  was  admitted 
)y  the  writer  of  the  complaints  in  the  "  Pall  Mall "  that  the 
)assengers  in  the  Cunard  fared  better,  as  to  quarters  and 


as 


AMONa  TIIU    AMKUICANMi 


1    f 


i    ' 


n ' 


if  V- 


I 


(■ 


(llcl,  thnn  iu  other  v<^Aiie)N.  T  went  I'ouiul  the  nh\\\  with  Dr. 
JohiiNon,  tl\e  incdictU  tJlUcer  of  the  •♦  Hothnia.**  The  occu- 
|nintN  (>r  the  Nteei't<^:e  liicUide  nwiny  rmij^ii  uiiitituui^eMhltY 
poople,  whoMe  h»hitNol\eit  jUNtit^  mtine  coercion  for  thentike 
t»t'the  eomt'ort  «»t*otherH.  Jhit  I  tiMaMtuhtod  tVoin  thtmo  who 
knew,  that  tite  j;;enerHl  i'oit\l'oi1  for  the  Hteeraj^c  puMMMti^erH 
Ih  not  what  It  onj^ht  to  Hc»  or  what  It  nilyjht  he.  Either 
Parllantent  or  the  prenM  ^honUl  eontpel  hnprovenientn  In  the 
arrangement  of  tl>e  wteerajie,  VVIien  reporters  vlwlt  a  new 
veH((e)  to  report  npon  !ih  etpiipnient)  they  MhouUI  hnik  into 
the  Hteerajfe  arratijj^enients.  If  onr  naval  archlteetn  who 
f»eei<  ilUtinetion  in  ifntlerlny;  vessels  shot>proot',  wonUl  ^ivo 
attention  "to  ivntlerinjy  tluMu  tliset>njt\>rt-pro«if  tor  the  emi- 
l^frants  who  erow«l  the  steeraj^e,  It  wonUl  he  a  great  !)le8s- 
ln>5:.  Mr.  Ve<v  I'oster  an<l  Mrs,  Chlslu>hn  secnrcti  many 
aitentuu\s  to  poor  passengei^;  hnt  the  attention  wanted  Im  u 
thtUMYnt  constrnotion  ot'  the  sinp.  In  parts  of  the  ship 
wheix*  eon^t\»rl  ah«nnulsS  theiv  is  eecetitrlcity  of  contrivances. 
For  instanvHs  the  nanie-phites  t>n  Ciniaix!  doors  were  vso  low 
that  it  was  only  hy  uoinij"  tlown  npon  yonr  knees  that  a  pas- 
senjkior  iH>nUl  ivad  thenu  Only  a  passenjjer  who  had  hrokeii 
his  U\\j  oo\dd  tinil  ont  the  doctor*s  door.  Recnrrinjy  to  the 
steeraj>e»  I  >r.  Johnson  said  he  conunonly  t'onnd  poor  women 
who  v\une  oi^  hoaixl  with  families^  a»\d  with  one  snckling  at 
the  l>»vast»  wetv  j;'eneraUy  In  snch  a  state  of  weakticss  as  to 
he  ipjiie  \nud>le  to  hoar  the  strain  of  ronyjh  weather;  and  I 
s;uv  njysolf  imlei^  j^iven  lor  tlo/.ens  of  porter  and  gallons  of 
nnlk»  wluMvhy  the  pootvr  women  antl  children  weitj  strength- 
en^^l.  This  was  additio)\al  to  the  s\ipply  oixlered  hy  law, 
nnvl  wxMV  uivcn  at  <liscrctiv>n  hv  the  kind-hcartcil  doctor* 


i 


AMONO   rilK   AMKIIICANS. 


»3 


who  Hiiid  the  coinptiiiy  itcvcr  interfered  with  him  in  tliCHC 
tiiin^N,  and  thai  iit  ntauy  cascH,  in  tlio  HhipH  of  thiH  line,  cm- 
i^rantH  lived  belter  than  tiiey  had  been  aecii8t<>nie<l  to  at 
home,  whieh  niuy  be  (rue  of  other  lincH  aino.  If  Ameriean 
Kl)i|)H  took  aH  nviny  Hteeraji^e  paHnen^erH  to  Great  Hritain  as 
Great  Hritain  talceH  to  AnKM'ica,  there  would  soon  be  new 
devices  in  the  iirran^ement  of  HhipH. 

Asa  rule  tlu'  solitude  of  the  sea  is  leHs  than  a  stranger 
v\^)uld  think.     A  large  ship  is  a  moving  eonimunily,  and 
generally  afTords  great  variety  of  good   society.     It  was 
lonly  at  night,  when  most  persons  had  gone  below,  and  the 
I  deck  was  silent,  that — leaning  among  the  cordage  and  lis- 
tening to  the  beating  of  the  dark  sea  against  the  sides  of 
the  resolute  and  defiant  vessel  as  it  drove  through  the  bafHed 
vvaves — you  could  realize  the  loneliness  of  the  ocean.     It 
was^  like  thinking  in  another  world,  as  I  contemplated  the 
Ulark  tlesert  of  water,  afar  from  any  land — the  busy  world, 
lanrdiar  to  me  for  sixty  years,  far  behind — all  before  strangc- 
jnoss  and  untried  existence. 

At  other  times  I  gave  some  thought  as  to  what  I  should 

[do  in  case  it  fell  to  nie  to  speak  in  public  in  America.    Like 

the  Scotch,  many  Americans  pride  themselves  on  speaking 

[ICnglish  better  than  the  English  do  themselves,  although 

they  have  some  peculiarities  of  their  own  which  sometimes 

attract  our  attention.     Clearness  of  expression  and  precision 

[of  idea  I  knew  were  qualities  of  American  speech:  whether 

I  could  fulfil  these  conditions  were  disturbing  considerations 

kvlth   me.      However,   a  small   American   book   which   1 

bought  to  read  on  the  voyage  out  was  reassuring  to  me.    It 


24 


AMOXG   THE    AMERICANS. 


was  published  by  a  popular  house,  and  was  one  of  a  popular 
series.    The  book  opened  with  this  passage : —    . 

"  The  people  of  the  United  States  have  now  fairly  entered  upon  the 
discussion  of  economic  problems  of  the  gravest  importance — prob 
lems  upon  the  right  settlement  of  which  both  the  immediate  material 
and  moral  welfare  of  the  community  will  greatly  depend.  These 
questions  are — First,  the  Money  Question :  what  is  good  money  and 
what  is  bad  ?  Second,  the  Legal  Tender  Question :  what  shall  be  the 
standard  or  unit  of  value  by  which  contracts  shall  be  enforced? 
Third,  the  Tariff  Question :  in  what  manner  and  for  what  purposes 
shall  the  revenue  derived  from  taxes  upon  foreign  imports  be  col- 
lected? Fourth,  the  National  Excise  System:  how  shall  internal 
taxes  be  assessed,  and  what  shall  be  the  subjects  of  national  taxation  ? 
Fifth,  the  Bapk  Question :  how  shall  those  persons  who  desire  to  gain 
profit  to  themselves,  by  rendering  the  exchange  of  products  and  of 
services  among  the  people  most  rapid-and  least  costly,  be  permitted 
to  organize  the  work  ?  Finally,  and  beside  all  these  great  national 
fiscal  problems,  come  all  the  vexed  questions  respecting  State,  city, 
and  town  taxation  and  expenditure,  and  the  yet  greater  problem  of 
national  or  State  interference  or  non-interference  in  the  pursuits  of 
the  citizens,  either  for  shortening  the  hours  of  work,  promoting  edu- 
cation, or  attempting  to  compass  the  material  and  moral  welfare  of 
special  clashes  by  means  of  legislation.  What  is  called  civil  service 
reform,  or  the  question  whether  corruption  or  purity  shall  rule  in 
civil  service,  waits  largely  on  the  determination  of  these  questions 
before  it  can  he  fully  accomplished,  because  it  is  a  well-established 
fact  that  an  attempt  to  impose  a  tax  beyond  certain  limits  will  pro- 
mote dishonesty  in  the  revenue  service  somewhere,  under  whatever 
party  name  appointments  may  have  been  made.  To  these  we  might 
add  the  Railway  Question;  or,  how  shall  the  owners  of  large  or  small 
portions  of  capital  be  permitted  to  combine,  for  the  joint  service  of 
themselves  and  of  the  community,  in  the  work  now  developed  into 
such  gigantic  proportions,  of  transporting  passengers  and  goods  over 
the  continent?" 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


25 


If  America  had  all  these  things  to  settle,  I  thought  it 
might  be  glad  to  hear  of  something  simpler  by  way  of  pre- 
lude. If  this  complex  series  of  propositions  could  be  put  for- 
ward without  bewildering  the  popular  reader,  nothing  I 
could  say  would  be  likely  to  confuse  them.  I  remember  the 
saying  of  General  Ludlow — ^^  It  is  not  enough  to  mean  well, 
you  must  know  well  what  you  mean."  If  the  popular 
reader  believed  that  the  writer  above  indicated  knew  all 
the  answers  to  his  multitudinous  questions,  any  stranger 
might  hope  for  liberal  attention.  As  I  was  never  likely  to 
wander  into  the  social  infinites  in  this  way,  I  took  heart 
and  thought  I  could  tell,  if  called  upon,  a  simple  story  of 
industrial  devices,  which  would  be  tolerated.  The  work 
which  I  have  alluded  to  was  not  without  passages  of  merit 
and  ideas  of  value,  but  it  remained  evident  that  a  people 
who  would  make  their  way  through  its  stupendous  series 
of  topics  would  bear  with  me.  I  might  annoy  them  or  dis- 
appoint them.  I  could  never  lead  them  headlong  into  a 
wilderness  so  vast  as  this. 

My  cabin  companion  passenger  was  the  Rev.  James  J. 
Good,  of  Philadelphia,  a  young  preacher,  who  had  been 
travelling  in  Europe,  visiting  the  Holy  Land  among  other 
places.  Not  knowing  that  even  numbers  in  a  ship  repre- 
sented the  lower  berth  in  the  cabin,  an  upper  one  fell  to  me. 
Mr.  Good,  seeing  I  was  the  elder,  very  civilly  volunteered 
to  take  the  upper  berth  himself,  leaving  the  lower  to  me,  as 
being  more  convenient.  He  was  quiet,  well-informed,  and 
studious,  and  his  pleasant  courtesies  were  constant  during 
the  voyage.  One  morning  a  gentleman  nearer  my  age,  of 
very  animated  expression,  came  down  to  my  cabin,  and 


26 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


asked  permission  to  introduce  himself.  It  was  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Prime.  He  was  a  preacher  of  great  repute  in  New  York, 
the  most  evangelical  of  the  Evangelicals.  1  never  quite 
knew  how  evangelical  he  was;  but  I  was  told  it  was  very 
much  beyond  what  I  could  expect  to  understand;  but  this 
did  not  prevent  him  being  a  very  bright-mannered  and  in- 
telligent gentleman,  with  whom  I  had  several  conversations 
which  interested  me  very  much.  He  introduced  me  to 
another  minister,  who  had  a  wonderful  theory  of  uniting 
monarchy  with  American  democracy.  But  as  I  had  no  in- 
nate faculty  for  appreciating  either  thing,  I  made  no  pro- 
gress in  that  way  of  thinking.  This  minister  was  evidently 
a  man  of  strong  thought,  and  had  some  original  views. 
There  were  twelve  clergymen  on  board,  which  was  pleas- 
ant to  me  to  think  of,  for  if  there  was  anything  wrong  in  me, 
I  doubted  not  that  they  would  use  friendly  intercession  in 
the  quarter  where  they  had  influence — and  get  it  all  put 
right. 

There  is  an  offensive  rule  on  board  ships  that  the  service 
on  Sunday  shall  be  that  of  the  Church  of  England,  and 
that  the  preacher  selected  shall  be  of  that  persuasion.  Sev- 
eral of  the  twelve  ministers  of  religion  among  the  passen- 
gers of  the  "  Bothnia  "  were  distinguished  preachers,  where- 
as the  clergyman  selected  to  preach  to  us  was  not  at  all  dis- 
tinguished, and  made  a  sermon  which  I,  as  an  Englishman, 
was  rather  ashamed  to  hear  delivered  before  an  audience 
composed  almost  entirely  of  intelligent  Americans.  The 
preacher  told  a  woeful  story  of  loss  of  trade  and  distress  in 
England,  which  gave  the  audience  the  idea  that  John  Bull 
was  "  up  a  tree."     If  the  old  gentleman  who  personifies  us 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


«7 


had  been  very  high  up  I  would  not  have  published  it  in  a 
s(  rmon.  The  preacher  said,  after  the  manner  of  his  class, 
t'.iat  this  was  owing  to  our  sins — that  is  the  sins  of  English- 
men. The  devotion  of  the  American  hearers  was  varied 
with  a  smile  at  this  announcement.  It  was  their  surpassing 
ingenuity  and  rivalry  in  trade  which  had  affected  our  ex  • 
ports  for  a  time.  Our  chief  "  sins "  were  uninventiveness 
and  commercial  incapacity,  and  the  greater  wit  and  inge- 
nuity of  the  audience  were  the  actual  punishment  the 
preacher  was  pleading  and  praying  against.  He  was 
preaching  this  before  the  punishers,  and  praying  them  to 
be  contrite  on  account  of  their  own  success.  The  minister 
described  bad  trade  as  a  punishment  from  God,  as  though 
God  had  made  the  rascally  merchants  who  took  out  shoddy 
calico  and  ruined  the  markets.  It  has  been  political  oppres- 
sion, and  not  God,  that  has  driven  the  best  French  and  Ger- 
man artists  into  America,  where  they  have  enriched  its 
manufactures  with  their  skill  and  industry,  and  enabled  that 
country  to  compete  with  us. 

The  preacher's  text  was  as  ,wide  of  any  mark  as  his  ser- 
mon. It  asked  the  question,  "  How  can  we  sing  in  a  strange 
land  ?"  When  we  arrived  there  there  were  hardly  a  dozen 
of  us  in  the  vessel  who  would  be  in  a  strange  land;  the 
great  majority  were  going  home.  They  were  mostly  com- 
mercial reapers  of  an  English  harvest  who  were  returning 
home  rejoicing,  bearing  their  golden  sheaves  with  them. 
Neither  the  sea  nor  the  land  was  strange  to  them.  Many 
of  them  were  as  familiar  with  the  Atlantic  as  with  the 
prairie.  I  sat  at  table  by  a  Toronto  dealer  who  had  crossed 
the  ocean  twenty-nine  times.     The  congregation  at  sea 


38 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


formed  a  very  poor  opinion  of  the  discernment  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  There  were  wise  and  bold  things  which 
other  preachers  on  board  could  have  said,  and  a  good  sermon 
would  have  been  a  great  pleasure  mid-ocean. 

On  the  return  voyage  in  the  "  Gallia "  we  had  another 
"burning,"  but  not  "a  shining  light"  of  the  Churph  of 
England,  to  discourse  to  us.  He  had  the  merit  of  reading 
what  he  had  to  say  with  confidence  and  evident  sincerity. 
He  was  a  young  man,  and  it  required  some  assurance  to 
look  into  the  eyes  of  intelligent  Christians  around  him,  who 
had  three  times  his  years,  experience,  and  knowledge,  and 
lecture  them  upon  matters  of  which  he  was  himself  abso- 
lutely ignorj^nt. 

This  clergyman  dwelt  on  and  enforced  the  old  doctrine 
— severity  of  parental  discipline  of  the  young,  and  on  the 
wisdom  of  compelling  children  to  unquestioning  obedience ; 
and  argued  that  submission  to  a  higher  will  was  good  for 
men  during  life.  At  least  two-thirds  of  the  congregation 
were  Americans,  who  regard  parental  severity  as  cruelty 
to  the  young,  and  utterly  uninstructive;  and  unquestioning 
obedience  they  held  to  be  calamitous  and  demoralizing  edu- 
cation. They  expect  reasonable  obedience,  and  seek  to 
obtain  it  by  reason.  Submission  to  a  "  higher  will,"  as 
applied  to  man,  is  mere  submission  to  authority,  against 
which  the  whole  polity  of  American  life  is  a  magnificent 
protest.  The  only  higher  will  they  recognize  in  worldly 
affairs  is  the  will  of  the  people,  intelligently  formed,  im- 
partially gathered,  and  constitutionally  recorded — facts  of 
which  the  speaker  had  not  the  remotest  idea.  Everyone 
felt  that  the  preacher  himself  had  been  trained  in  "  unques- 


AMONG    THE   AMERICANS. 


39 


tioning  obedience,"  since  he  was  evidently  without  the 
power  of  inquiring  into  or  acquiring  the  commonest  inter- 
national facts  of  his  time. 

I  observed  that  the  steerage  passengers  were  not  invited 
into  the  saloon  to  hear  the  service.  Probably  the  souls  of 
the  poorer  passengers  did  not  need  saving,  and  the  service 
was  only  necessary  for  the  sinners  of  the  saloon.  In  this 
the  ship  authorities  were  probably  right. 


CHAPTER  II. 

» 

COURTESIES   OF   NEW   YORK. 

STRANGER  in  America  is  very  much  like  the  Tan- . 
gier  oysters,  which  but  partly  fill  the  large  shell  in 
rhich  they  are  incased.     Before  bi  ing  sold,  they  are  sent 
to  reside  for  a  short  time  in  another  water,  when  they  are 
found  to  have  grown  double  their  former  size,  and  entirely 
ill  the  copious  shells  in  which  they  were  bom.     A  brief 
residence  in  America  in  like  manner  enlarges  the  ideas  of 
m  insular  Briton.    At  the  Gloucester  Co-operative  Con- 
gress the  Heckmondwike  Manufacturing  Company  exhib- 
ited two  handsome  rugs.    One  was  presented  to  Professor 
Jtewart,  and  the  other  I  had  the  honor  to  receive.     I  took 
ft  with  me  to  America,  thinking  to  astonish  New  York 
rith  the  beauty   of  co-operative   manufacture.     I   had   it 
ranging  on  my  arm  as  I  entered  the  city  alone.     I  soon 
jFound  that  the  rug  had  fascination  for  other  eyes  as  well  as 
ly  own,  for  when  I  next  thought  of  it  it  was  gone,  in  what 
ray  I  had  no  idea.    So  the  discernment  or  envy  of  New 
""ork  prevented  me  from  displaying  my  choice  example  of 
:o-operative  industry.   If  any  "  smart "  foreign  trader  brings 
rugs  of  that  pattern  into  the  English  market,  Mr.  Crabtree 
rill  understand  how  the  design  got  abroad. 


3* 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


My  friend,  Dr.  Hollick,  gave  me  the  use  of  his  rooms  in 
the  Broadway  for  the  purpose  of  business  and  seclusion. 
One  Saturday  afternoon  when  I  was  alone  in  that  many- 
roomed  building,  all  other  occupants  having  lefl,  a  creature 
with  quiet  manner,  a  pretty  auburn  beard,  and  sharp,  useful 
eyes,  of  about  thirty  years  of  age,  walked  noiselessly  into 
the  middle  of  the  inner  chamber,  I  having  left  both  doors 
unlocked.  He  was  what  was  known  in  the  city  as  a  **  sneak 
thief."  He  pressed  me  to  buy  pencils  of  him.  I  observed 
that  he  took  an  inventory  of  two  open  trunks  which  I  kept 
there,  and  that  he  meant  to  come  again.  When  I  was  in 
Kansas  City  he  did.  As  I  had  taken  the  precaution  of 
throwing  hewspapers  over  the  trunks  he  appeared  not  to 
have  observed  them,  and  carried  away  only  some  articles  of 
clothing  which  I  had  lefl  out,  and  a  large  illustrated  work 
of  my  friend^  entitled  the  "  Origin  of  Life."  The  clever 
police  captured  the  pencil  seller,  but  as  I  was  far  away  at 
the  trial  and  could  not  claim  my  clothing,  it  fell  to  the 
police,  at  which  I  was  glad — as  I  suppose  they  were — for 
the  articles  were  English,  new  and  good.  I  lost  nothing 
else  during  my  sojourn  in  the  land. 

Once,  when  I  was  a  guest  of  Mr.  Alderman  Samuelson, 
brother  of  the  member  for  Danbury,  at  a  Boston  hotel,  an 
umbrella,  which  I  had  bought  of  a  London  Jew,  because  it 
was  unlike  any  other,  disappeared  from  the  place  where  I 
had  placed  it.  My  host  spoke  to  a  shrewd  black  waiter  and 
said  in  his  emphatic  way  that  it  was  necessary  that  the  um- 
brella should  reappear,  as  it  belonged  to  his  guest.  When 
I  came  to  leave  the  hotel  I  found  it  where  I  had  placed  it. 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


33 


The  impetuosity  of  New  York  was  in  everything  and 
[verybotly.  The  painted  signboards  relating  to  the  tele- 
graph offices  contained  animated  figures  of  men  and  juve- 
nile messengers,  racing  as  though  a  fire  engine  or  Milton*8 
Jatan  was  afler  them.  The  mahogany  tables  of  the  West- 
|rn  Union  Telegraph  Office,  on  which  the  public  write 
lessages,  are  covered  with  great  sheets  of  plate  glass,  which 
[ave  them  a  cleanness  and  brilliancy  very  striking.  As 
lere  are  several  of  these,  the  appearance  of  the  office  is 
lat  of  a  drawing-room.  The  public  in  England  have  no 
:commodation  of  this  kind.  Sitting  there  alone  and  late 
|ne  Saturday  evening,  while  a  friend  was  arranging  some 
lessages  upstairs,  I  passed  from  meditation  to  sleep.  Im- 
lediately  my  eyes  were  closed,  a  sharp  youth,  from  some 
Inseen  room,  awakened  me.  I  assured  him  I  had  no  inten- 
Ion  of  passing  the  night  there;  but  three  times,  when  sleep 
r^ertook  me  in  the  large  and  deserted  room,  he  promptly 
|sued  from  his  reoess  and  desired  me  to  look  about.  I  con- 
luded  that  nobody  was  allowed  to  go  to  sleep  in  New  York 

ider  any  colorable  pretext. 

Occasionally  I  went  down  to  the  Astor  House,  because  I 

Led  to  lunch  at  the  great,  broad,  circular  table,  with  the 
raiters  inside,  who  serve  you  so  promptly;  and  also  to 
^atch  business  men  eating,  though  I  cannot  say  I  ever  saw 

done.  "  What  do  you  think  of  it?"  said  Mr.  Barnum,  as 
^e  came  out.    My  answer  was,  "All  I  observed  was  that 

gentleman  enters,  reads  the  bill  of  fare,  speaks  to  the 
biter,  pays  the  cashier,  and  departs.  He  has,  doubtless, 
Iken  his  dinner;  but  the  operation  is  so  rapid  that  I  cannot 
fy  properly  that  I  witnessed  it."    Yet  in  the  clubs  and 


34 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


•1* 


private  houses,  where  I  was  at  times  a  guest,  I  found  that 
the  dinner  was  eaten  as  dilatorily  and  as  daintily  as  in  an 
English  mansion — besides  including  a  greater  number  of 
delicacies.  Americans,  as  a  rule,  know  how  to  dine  like 
gentlemen. 

In  "  Appleton's  Guide,"  as  I  construed  it,  No.  i,  Broad- 
way, was  the  Old  Kennedy  House,  and  that  Fulton  (the  in- 
ventor of  steamships,  whom  Robert  Owen  aided  in  Man- 
chester) died  in  one  of  its  rooms;  that  General  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  (grandfather  of  my  friend  Colonel  H.  Clinton,  who 
has  never  forgiven  the  Americans  for  defeating  his  famous 
ancestor)  once  resided  there;  as  afterwards  General  Wash- 
ington and  T^alleyrand  (the  "lame  fiend"  who  tempted 
Cobbett  to  teach  him  English).  ^ 

On  my  first  night  in  New  York  I  engaged  a  room  at  No. 
I,  now  the  Washington  Hotel.  There  are  spacious  rooms 
in  it,  where  a  cohort  of  generals  and  diplomatists  might  con- 
fer. The  hotel  looks  out  on  the  Bowery  in  front  and  Castle 
Gardens  on  the  right.  The  associations  of  the  place  were 
very  pleasant  to  me,  but  as  the  hotel  was  full  of  old  ship 
captains — ^whose  talk  was  of  cargoes,  storms,  shipwreck, 
and  blockade  running,  and  in  every  language  but  English 
— I  did  not  find  a  human  being  to  converse  with  on  any 
topic.  I  understood  my  room  was  on  the  fifth  tier,  quite  re- 
moved from  the  lower  part  of  the  hotel.  There  was  no 
speedy  communication  below,  and  nobody  to  be  met  with 
above.  I  felt  utterly  solitary  and  lost.  Notices  told  me 
that  certain  passages  led  to  the  fire  escape.  Being  so  far 
above  the  ground  it  occurred  to  me  to  study  them.  I  pur- 
sued them  through  as  many  corridors  as  Mrs.  Radcliflfe 


AMONG  TUB   AMERICANS. 


35 


found  in  the  Castle  of  Otranto.  After  ascending  narrow 
stairs  I  suddenly  entered  a  long  room,  where  six  stalwart 
Irish  women  were  engaged  at  washing  tubs.  As  they  all 
looked  at  me  at  once,  wondering  what  brought  me  there,  I 
retreated,  well  confused,  saying  I  "  thought  they  were  the 
fire-escapes."    I  preferred  the  fire  to  going  any  further. 

My  room  was  one,  no  doubt,  once  occupied  by  the  Hes- 
sians when  the  Duke  of  York  was  there.  The  bell-rope 
had,  I  concluded,  been  broken  by  those  valiant  troopers 
ringing  for  beer,  and  had  not  been  repaired.  So  desolate 
was  that  chamber  that  I  should  have  been  glad  to  invite 
their  ghosts  in,  had  any  been  about  the  deserted  corridors. 
Once  I  hoped  it  might  be  the  room  where  poor  Fenton 
died,  and  had  Spiritualism  been  true  I  might  have  had  con- 
versation with  that  clever  inventor. 

In  the  early  morning  I  heard  strange  noises  under  my 
nndow,  which  at  first  I  thought  must  be  some  Hessian  or 
j^'ulton  visitation.  Upon  looking  out  I  found  the  elevated 
railway  almost  running  through  my  bedroom,  and  a  stoker 
stood  by  his  engine  turning  off  his  steam.  His  engine  was 
No.  99,  and  I  was  told  that  the  other  (98)  would  probably 
be  by  before  breakfast. 

The  elevated  railway  is  a  wonderful  contrivance  of  iron 
architecture ;  nevertheless  beautiful  streets  are  disfigured  by 
it,  just  as  we  have  cut  the  view  of  St.  PauPs  Cathedral  in 
London  in  two  by  the  railway  crossing  Ludgate  Hill.  Had 
the  people  of  New  York  possessed  St.  Paul's  they  would 
never  have  tolerated  a  railway  before  it.  I  was  some  weeks 
before  venturing  upon  a  journey  through  the  air  on  it ;  when 
1  did,  I  watched  for  the  open  bedroom  windows  on  the  way. 


3«5 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


r 


i\ 


to  see  which  I  could  best  leap  into,  in  case  the  dubious  t;hing 
gave  way  altogether. 

The  New  York  "  Tribune "  office  is  the  noblest  news- 
paper building  I  had  seen.  Its  lofty  tower,  where  the  edi- 
torial and  type  rooms  are,  overlooks  the  great  post-office,  a 
small  sea,  and  all  the  great  buildings  around. .  Printers  may 
live  longer  there  than  in  any  office  I  know.  The  spacious 
and  high  chambers,  with  abounding  ventilation,  insures  the 
health  of  the  men.  Every  telegraphic,  telephonic,  and 
pneumatic  convenience  perfected,  is  in  operation  there. 
Clocks  around  show  the  time  in  distant  parts  of  the  United 
States,  and  in  the  chief  capitals  of  Europe.  Everything 
shows  the  taste, and  resources  of  Mr.  Whitelaw  Reid,  the 
editor,  who  devised  the  arrangements.  The  "Ledger" 
offices  of  Philadelphia!  and  other  cities  are  distinguished 
also  in  their  ways,  but  I  had  not  the  opportunity  of  examin- 
ing them. 

The  plan  of  travel  I  had  made  for  myself  was  simply  to 
see  New  York,  Boston,  Washington,  and  Philadelphia.  I 
knew  it  was  impossible  to  see  every  place  in  America,  and 
I  did  not  intend  to  try.  To  see  a  few  of  the  chief  things 
in  any  town,  or  a  few  of  the  chief  places  in  any  country,  and 
see  them  well,  easily,  and  without  fatigue,  is  my  idea  of 
travelling.  Men  must  travel  as  they  read  books.  No  one 
could  read  all  the  books  in  the  world,  however  interesting 
they  are,  and  he  who  attempted  it  would  die  discontented 
through  not  having  accomplished  it.  So  I  select  a  few  of 
the  objects  and  places  I  most  care  for,  and  have  perfect 
enjoyment  therein. 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


37 


When  my  intention  became  known  in  New  York  some 
friends  put  it  into  a  paragraph,  and  the  Associative  Press 
telegraphed  it,  I  was  told,  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  pa- 
pers. When  I  expressed  my  surprise  at  this,  a  friend  said, 
"  As  you  are  going  up  the  country  we  wish  to  give  you  a 
good  send  off^"^  I  had  never  heard  the  phrase  before.  It 
was  some  time  before  I  got  reconciled  to  it.  It  had  such  a 
strange  sound  to  me.  It  would  never  enter  into  the  mind 
of  any  Englishman  to  use  it.  It  was  merely  the  American 
way.  It  is  their  habit  to  look  clean  into  a  thing,  estimate 
what  it  amounts  to,  and  if  an  act  of  service  or  friendship  to 
a  stranger  to  "  put  it  through." 

The  *'  Mail "  said  that  "  old  anti-slavery  citizens  would 
not  forget  a  criticism  of  mine  in  the  "  Leader"  (1851)  of  the 
Garrisonian  agitation,  which  called  forth  a  reply  from  Wen- 
dell Phillips,  the  most  argumentative  and  brilliant  of  his 
great  anti-slavery  orations." 

The  New  York  "  Tribune  "  had  at  times  made  mention 
of  my  name,  in  connection  with  some  English  affairs  it 
thought  of  interest  to  its  readers,  in  terms  which  were  of 
the  nature  of  a  letter  of  recommendation  to  me  everywhere, 
as  I  afterwards  found. 

The  New  York  "Herald,"  though  democratic,  and  of 
the  opposite  politics  to  the  "  Tribune,"  recorded  proceed- 
ings in  which  I  was  concerned,  as  did  other  journals. 

One  morning  the  "  Tribune  "  mentioned  that  I  was  stay- 
ing at  the  Hoffmann  House,  whereby  it  came  to  pass  that  I 
saw  many  distinguished  citizens.  Introductions  were  sent 
mc  to  the  great  clubs — ^the  Union,  the  Century,  and  the 


38 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


Lotos,  where  I  spent  enchanted  days  amid  the  pictures^ 
books,  and  stately  chambers. 

One  afternoon  I  met  the  members  of  the  Press  Club  and 
was  invited  to  address  them.  Journalists,  men  of  letters, 
men  of  science,  travellers  and  thinkers  of  many  lands,  as 
well  as  of  America,  were  there.  The  proceedings,  I  was 
told  afterwards,  were  a  "  reception,"  but  I  did  not  know  at 
the  time  what  it  was.  It  was  well  I  did  not,  for  I  should 
have  been  confused  at  the.dispfoportion  of  so  much  courtesy 
to  any  merit  on  my  part  to  justify  it. 

In  New  York  I  had  the  pleasure  to  meet  again  with 
Garibaldi's  well-known  naval  officer,  William  de  Rohan, 
who  took  out  the  British  Legion  in  the  Italian  war  of 
freedom.  He  had  lost  nothing  of  the  high  spirit  and  vivacity 
which  characterized  him  in  that  undertaking.  I  found  him 
engaged  in  promoting  colonization  in  Virginia,  of  which  he 
published  the  best  account  for  the  information  of  emigrants 
I  saw  in  the  States. 

It  was  my  intention  to  sail  in  the  "Scythia"  early  in 
August,  as  Mr.  Potter,  M.  P.,  was  going  out  at  the  same 
time.  His  sailing  becoming  uncertain,  I  changed  my  vessel 
for  the  "Bothnia,"  which  sailed  mid- August,  in  order  to 
arrive  after  the  August  storm,  which  breaks  over  New 
York  at  the  end  of  August,  had  cooled  the  air.  I  was 
willing  to  go  earlier  and  be  roasted  in  company,  but  felt  no 
call  ^f  patriotism  to  be  roasted  alone.  Mr.  Potter  and  I 
never  met  until  we  were  on  board  the  "  Gallia,"  on  the 
return  voyage.  Mr.  Potter,  and  Mrs.  Potter  who  accom- 
panied him,  were  received  with  honor  in  America,  to  which 
he  was  known  to  have  rendered  great  services. 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


39 


Mr.  Evarts,  the  Secretary  of  State,  made  one  of  his  most 
brilliant  speeches  at  the  dinner  given  to  Mr.  Potter  in  New 
York,  where  Mr.  Evarts  sent  the  memorable  message  to 
Mr.  Bright  that  "  the  people  of  the  United  States  hoped  he 
would  not  die  until  he  had  seen  America."  "Mr.  Potter 
made  wise  and  excellent  speeches  during  his  visit,  saying, 
with  great  judiciousness,  very  little  about  free  trade,  which 
it  was  known  he  was  desirous  of  promoting.  For  myself, 
though  a  partisan  of  free  trade,  I  elected  never  to  allude  to 
it,  having  discerned  befor«  I  went,  that  the  best  advocacy 
of  free  trade  in  America  is  to  say  nothing  about  it,  Ameri- 
cans being  apt  to  believe  that  when  an  Englishman  recom- 
mends it  to  them,  he  does  so  because  it  is  a  national  interest 
of  his  own.  They  .<3o  not  understand  that  we  see  free  trade 
to  be  as  much  to  their  interest  as  to  ours. 

The  South  being  unfortunately  in  favor  of  free  trade,  the 
North  regard  it  as  a  sort  of  Copperhead  policy,  and  are 
prejudiced  against  it.  As  South  and  North  become  one 
again  in  sentiment  and  fraternity,  which  increases  every 
year,  it  being  their  common  interest  to  be  united,  the 
wonderful  business  discernment  of  America  will  lead  them 
to  see,  eventually,  that  free  trade  is  the  profit  of  their 
country.  And  they  will  see  it  sooner  if  they  find  we  do 
not  solicitously  intrude  it  upon  them. 

On  the  day  of  my  arrival  in  New  York  I  walked  out  in- 
to the  city  alone.  Not  having  mentioned  to  any  friend  the 
name  of  the  second  vessel  I  had  taken  a  berth  in,  there  was 
no  one  I  knew  on  the  shore,  and  I  went  peering  amongst 
the  Rotterdam-looking  'houses  which  I  first  encountered, 
and  saw  the  strange  city  for  the  first  time  for  myself,  and  by 


40 


AMONG  THE  AMBKICANS. 


myself.  I  knew  of  no  address  save  that  of  my  early  friend 
and  fellow-student,  Dr.  Hollick.  When  I  reached  him  he 
handed  me  a  letter,  which  was  an  invitation  to  the  office  of 
the  "  Worker,"  1455  Broadway.  It  was  from  Mr.  E.  E. 
Barnum,  Secretary  of  the  Colony  Aid  Association,  who  be- 
came my  friend,  and  was  my  friend  always,  tie  was  a  man 
of  singular  modesty,  with  an  entirely  honest  voice,  of  quiet, 
unobtrusive  ways.  Though  he  was  much  trusted,  he  left 
nothing  on  trust,  but  presented  a  clear  record  of  all  transac- 
tions passing  through  his  hands. . 

He  had  been  a  minister  of  religion,  and  retained  the 
agreeable  self-respecting  manners  of  one  of  the  better  sort. 
He  was  taken  by  his  father  in  early  life  into  the  prairie, 
where  the  hardships  he  shared  made  him  a  wise  and  practi- 
cal counsellor  of  emigrants.  He  accompanied  me  to  Sara- 
toga, as  I  was  new  to  American  railroads.  By  day  or  by 
night  he  would  accompany  me  about  New  York.  When  I 
returned  to  the  city  he  would  meet  the  early  boat  when  I 
arrived  in  the  morning.  If  I  returned  by  late  train,  he 
would  come  over  the  river  to  meet  me,  lest  my  being  un- 
able to  see  in  the  dark  should  cause  me  to  take  the  wrong 
boat.  It  was  with  real  sorrow  that  I  received  not  long  ago 
a  letter  from  Mrs.  Barnum — who  also  had  shown  me  atten- 
tions of  genuine  courtesy — a  letter  in  which  she  said : 

"  It  is  very  hard  for  me  to  tell  you  that  the  busy  feet  that  ran  for 
you,  and  the  bright  eyes  that  looked  for  you  are  still  and  closed.  'He 
regarded  you  with  so  much  love  and  ten  Jerness.  He  was  only  ill  for 
two  weeks,  and  passed  away  like  a  child  going  to  sleep,  tl;  had 
been  looking  forward  with  so  much  pleasure  for  your  return.  As  you 
knew  him  so  he  always  was — as  gentle  and  kind  to  every  one;  and 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


4» 


we  were  such  friends  and  comrades.  I  realize  that  all  the  world  and 
myself  could  die,  but  not  him;  and  until  he  had  passed  away  it  never 
entered  my  mind  he  could  die.  He  was  the  only  one  I  had,  and  now 
I  am  indeed  desolate." 

Mr.  Barnum  cared  for  co-operation  for  the  sake  of  its 
moral  influences,  and  he  had  the  capacity,  which  does  not 
always  go  with  right  feeling — the  capacity  of  giving  effect 
to  principles  by  material  organization. 

The  Co-operative  Colony  Aid  Association  have  objects 
wise,  practical,  and  unpretending,  expressed  with  modera- 
tion and  good  sense,  which  'I  never  knew  exceeded  in  Eng- 
land. The  qualities  are  much  more  common  in  America 
than  Englishmen  know.  In  England,  journalists  tell  us 
much  of  points  in  which  America  differs  from  us,  or  falls 
below  us,  and  too  little  of  the  points  in  which  its  people 
equal  or  excel  us. 

The  association  I  mentioned  invited  me  to  deliver  an  ad- 
dress in  the  Cooper  Union.  It  is  not  possible  to  collect  in 
London  an  audience  such  as  I  met  there — men  of  thought 
and  action  of  all  nations,  representatives  of  all  the  insurg- 
ency of  progress  in  Europe  are  found  in  New  York,  as 
well  as  the  men  of  mark  who  arise  in  that  mighty  land.  I 
met  there  for  the  first  time  the  Rev.  Robert  Collyer,  the 
famous  preacher  of  Chicago,  and  Mr.  Peter  Cooper,  who 
was  then  in  his  eighty-ninth  year.  He  gave  to  New  York 
the  great  Institute  in  which  we  met.  He  is  a  man  of  fine 
patriarchial  appearance.  He  made  a  bright,  argumentative, 
freshly-spoken  speech.  Professor  Adler,  a  Jewish  orator  of 
great  repute,  the  Rev.  Heber  Newton,  an  Episcopal  clergy- 
man, a  man  of  fine  enthusiasm,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Rylance, 


4» 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


who  knew  me  in  London  many  years  ago,  spoke  afler  the 
Icctdre.  The  platform  of  the  hall  is  very  wide  and  projects 
into  the  middle  of  it.  The  hall  is  so  spacious  that  it  is  like 
speaking  into  a  town,  and  the  lecturer  is  as  a  voice  speaking 
in  the  midst  of  the  people.  Everybody  can  hear  him. 
American  architects  have  a  mastery  of  space  unknown  in 
England,  and  in  their  halls  and  theatres,  everybody  can  see 
everything,  and  the  speaker  meets  the  eye  of  all  whom  he 
addresses. 

When  I  went  down  to  Liverpool  to  embark  for  America 
I  was  invited  by  a  committee  of  journalists,  and  other  gen- 
tlemen, to  a  public  dinner  there,  at  which  Dr.  Thomas  Car- 
son presided,  and,  Mr.  E.  R.  Russell,  editor  of  the  Liver- 
pool "  Post,"  and  other  gentlemen,  made  friendly  speeches  to 
me,  but  it  never  occurred  to  me  that  this  would  happen  to 
me  in  America.  Yet  it  came  to  pass  before  I  left  New 
York.  A  public  breakfast  was  given  me  in  St.  James* 
Hotel,  Broadway,  eighty  persons  were  present,  though  the 
tickets  were  fourteen  shillings  each. 

He  should  be  very  reticent  who  writes  of  himself,  yet 
entire  silence  would  be  an  ungrateful  or  contemptuous 
return  to  make  to  those  to  whom  he  becomes  indebted. 
Mr.  Peter  Cooper  was  present  at  the  St.  James'  Hall,  as 
well  as  the  gentlemen  who  spoke  at  the  lecture  at  the 
Cooper  Union.  Mr.  Whitelaw  Reid,  the  editor  of  the 
New  York  "  Tribune,"  sat  on  the  left  of  the  chairman. 
Here  I  met  for  the  first  time  Mr.  Parke  Goodwin,  son-in- 
law  of  Bryant  the  poet,  himself  the  editor  of  the  "  Evening 
Post,"  and  Mr.  E.  L.  Godkin,  editor  of  the  "Nation,"  a 
journal  which  resembles  our  "  Saturday  Review."      Mrs. 


AMONG  THE  AMERICANS. 


43 


Elizabeth  Thompson,  a  lady  distinguished  for  countless  and^ 
discerning  acts  of  national  munificence,  and  other  ladies 
were  present.  The  Rev.  Dr.  E.  H.  Chapin,  whose  im- 
passioned eloquence  I  often  heard  spoken  of  in  America, 
and  the  Rev.  Dr.  E.  A.  Washburne,  had  travelled  far  to 
be  there. 

I  have  preserved  the  many  letters  which  were  received 
from  heads  of  departments  at  Washington — from  Wendell 
Phillips,  Colonel  Robert  Ingersoll,  George  Wm.  Curtis, 
And  others.  One  was  from  Mr.  R.  B.  Hayes,  President  of 
the  United  States,  who,  though  engaged  all  day  at  a  military 
fair,  and  under  a  public  obligation  to  return  to  Washington 
that  night,  took  time  to  write,  saying :  "  It  would  give  me 
pleasure  to  accept  the  committee's  invitation  to  join  in  break- 
fasting with  Mr.  Holyoake,  and  thereby  show  my  apprecia- 
tion of  the  work  in  which  he  is  engaged,  and  I  regret  that 
imperative  engagements  to  return  to  Washington  immedi- 
ately prevented  me  attending  the  breakfast." 

It  never  entered  into  my  mind  that  anything  I  had  done 
could  be  known  or  could  interest  persons  so  numerous  and 
so  eminent,  in  a  country  so  remote  from  my  own.  All  my 
days  I  have  been  among  those  who  wrote  and  spoke  in 
defence  of  the  Republic  from  instinct.  The  New  York 
"  Tribune,"  in  a  graceful  expression,  ascribed  the  proceed- 
ings "  to  my  earnest  and  fruitful  friendship  for  America." 

The  utter  unpreparedness  with  which  I  was  called  upon 
to  do  things  in  schools,  churches,  or  public  meetings,  at  first 
perplexed  me.  In  England,  when  any  one  is  entertained, 
the  chairman  makes  a  speech  and  some  proposition  is  spoken 
to,  after  which  the  guest  speaks.    By  this  time  he  under- 


44 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


stands  something  of  the  sentiments  of  the  assembly,  and 
what  ideas  had  been  formed  of  him.  At  the  New  York 
breakfast  I  expected  the  same  course  woi^ld  be  followed, 
and  was  sitting  with  perfect  unconcern,  expecting  to  hear 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Newton,  who  acted  as  secretary,  read  the  let- 
ters received,  when  the  Rev.  Dr.  H.  W.  Bellows,  the  chair- 
man, who  had  spoken  with  gaiety  and  humor,  and  with  a 
felicity  of  expression  which  I  was  envying  and  admiring, 
suddenly  "  presented  "  me  to  the  meeting,  and  said  I  could 
address  them,  I  knew  not  what  to  say,  not  having  bad  time 
to  consider  what  there  was  available  in  the  chairman's 
speech.  I  thought  again  of  the  curate  who,  when  Arch- 
bishop Whateley  hsked  him  if  he  had  prepared  his  trial  ser- 
mon, said  he  had  not,  as  he  trusted  to  the  promise  that  in 
that  hour  in  which  he  had  to  speak  it  should  be  given  unto 
him  what  he  had  to  say.  "  But  you  forv^et,"  said  the  Arch- 
bishop, "  that  that  promise  was  made  to  an  apostle,  and  un- 
less you  are  sure  of  being  one,  the  promise  may  not  hold 
good  in  your  case."  As  my  apostolate  was  one  thing  of 
which  I  was  doubtful,  I  had  to  speak  and  take  my  chance 
of  the  "  promise,"  The  speeches  which  followed  mine 
were  so  admirable  that  they  seemed  to  have  the  aid  I  lacked. 
It  was  impossible  not  to  be  sensible  of  the  things  said  to 
me,  seeing  that  I  had  neither  rank,  nor  office,  nor  riches, 
nor  even  ecclesiastical  repute;  nor  could  I  bring  to  the  coun- 
try any  distinction,  nor  confer  upon  it  any  advantage.  All 
the  while  it  was  known  that  when  the  first  volume  of  my 
**  History  of  Co-operation  in  England  "  was  sent  to  the  press 
by  Messrs.  Lippincott,  the  American  publishers,  the  review- 
ers, with  three  exceptions,  reviewed  me  and  not  my  book. 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


45 


ibly,  and 
cw  York 
followed, 
:  to  hear 
J  the  let- 
he  chair- 
id  with  a 
idmiring, 
i  I  could 
bad  time 
lairman's 
n  Arch- 
trial  ser- 
le  that  in 
ven  unto 
le  Arch- 
and  un- 
not  hold 
thing  of 
/  chance 
id  mine 
[  lacked. 
}  said  to 
r  riches, 
le  coun- 
re.    All 
e  of  my 
he  press 
review- 
y  book, 


and  gave  it  to  be  understood,  that  I  was  not  known  to  be- 
lieve half  as  much  as  a  "  well-conducted "  person  should. 
Nevertheless,  during  my  whole  stay  in  the  country,  not  9 
single  journalist  ever  alluded  to  any  opinions  of  min.e,  other 
than  those  I  myself  chose  to  express.  When  I  think  of  all 
that  occurred  to  me,  I  feel  upon  returning  to  m^  own 
countrymen — who  know  me  better — that  I  ought  to  offer 
some  apology  for  having  received  attentions  so  much  be- 
yond any  discernible  merit  of  mine. 


CHAPTER  HI. 


THE   REPUBLICAN   CONVENTION   AT   SARATOGA. 


THE  pleasantest  way  to  Saratoga  from  New  York  is 
up  the  broad  waters  of  the  Hudson  River  in  one  of 
the  great  steamers,  large  enough  to  carry  a  town.  On  the 
road  you  see  the  majestic  and  dreamy  Catskill  Mountains, 
where  Rip  Van  Winkle  met  the  Dutchman  playing  at  nine- 
pins. 

Saratoga,  being  called  a  "  watering  place,"  I  expected  to 
find  lake  or  sea  there;  but  found  instead  mineral  springs, 
which  are  situated  in  a  picturesque  vale,  where  fountains, 
foliage,  statues,  and  shaded  walks  prevail.  Cheltenham  and 
Harrogate  together  are  not  so  alluring,  but  there  is  not 
much  of  Saratoga.  The  principal  street  has  lofty  trees,  of 
a  torrid  fruitfulness  of  leaves  and  branches.  The  vastness 
of  the  hotels  was  bewildering.  That  of  the  United  States 
Hotel,  where  I  stayed,  enclosed  three  sides  of  an  immense 
quadrangle,  as  large  as  a  park,  abounding  in  foliage.  I  was 
told  2,000  persons  were  residing  in  it  when  I  arrived.  A 
thousand  additional  visitors,  who  came  the  same  evening  to 
attend  the  convention,  seemed  to  make  no  sensible  addition 
to  those  who  conversed  in  corridors  and  saloons.  The 
colored  attendants  were  ready  and  unconfused.    In  a  few 


::>Sl 


48 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


minutes  you  were  in  possession  of  bedrooms  as  lofty  as  those  , 
of  the  Amstel  Hotel,  Amsterdam,  where  the  bed  curtains 
appeared  to  descend  from  the  clouds. 

The  object  of  the  convention,  called  by  the  Republican 
leaders,  was  to  choose  a  candidate  for  governor  of  New 
York  and  other  State  officers.  My  wish  was  to  see  not 
merely  what  was  done,  but  how  it  was  done,  and  where  it 
was  done. 

A  public  meeting  in  London  is,  except  in  the  Society  of 
Arts,  a  mere  proceeding,  hardly  ever  a  spectacle.  There  is 
nothing  imposing  about  it,  save  the  grand  throng  of  eager 
faces,  if  many  are  present,  and  the  mighty  roar  when  a 
great  speaker  interests  the  assembly.  The  hall  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Arts,  with  Barry's  great  paintings  around  its  walls, 
on  which  are  depicted  the  great  historic  actors  of  the  world, 
who  are,  as  it  were,  listening  to  the  speakers;  the  broad  dais 
at  the  upper  end  of  the  hall,  its  three  table-desks,  two  being 
independent  tribunes,  where  speakers  right  and  left  of  the 
president  can  take  their  stand — the  open  side  room  where 
auditors  can  arrive,  survey  the  meeting,  and  choose  the 
vacant  place  they  prefer,  or  see  and  hear  where  they  are — 
constitute  the  one  scenic  hall  of  London. 

The  Saratoga  Convention  of  1879  was  held  in  the  Town 
Hall;  not  a  bad  interior,  but  the  stage  had  the  ramshackle 
arrangements  common  in  England.  There  was  more  space 
than  we  reserve  for  speakers  to  deploy  in ;  but  in  the  centre 
stood  a  mean,  narrow  desk,  upon  the  hollow  top  of  which 
the  president  struck,  with  a  pitiful  wooden  hammer,  awaken- 
ing dilapidated  echoes  within.  Nobody  had  thought  that 
the  grandest  use  of  a  public  hall  is  a  public  meeting,  and 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


49 


that  the  mechanical  accessories  of  oratory  should  be  pic- 
turesque, and  yet  have  simplicity,  but  the  simplicity  should 
be  scenic. 

Tammany  Hall  I  did  not  see;  but  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston, 
has  quaint  grace  and  fitness  as  a  hall  of  oratory,  worthy  of 
the  famous  speakers  who  have  given  it  a  place  in  history. 
No  arrangement  had  been  made  for  delegates  at  Saratoga 
occupying  the  floor  of  the  hall,  and  for  preventing  any 
other  persons  Ciitering  that  area.  Ten  dollars  cost,  and  two 
carpenters,  would  have  done  the  work  in  two  hours.  This 
not  being  done,  the  hall  was  one  compact  political  mixture; 
and  as  the  delegates  wore  no  flower,  cross,  medal,  or  badge, 
nobody  knew  each  other,  nor  who  was  which.  This  cost 
an  hour's  fruitless  discussion,  and  confusion  all  day.  Twice 
over,  at  long  intervals,  a  wild  motion  was  made  that  all 
who  were  not  delegates  should  rise  and  stand  in  the  sides  of 
the  hall,  and  allow  the  delegates  to  be  seated  in  the  centre. 
This  proposition  proceeded  on  the  assumption  that  600  per- 
sons who  had  arrived  early,  and  struggled  their  way  into 
good  seats,  would  rise  by  natural  impulse  of  disinterested 
virtue  and  disclose  themselves,  the  consequence  being  that 
they  would  lose  their  seats  and  be  condemned  to  stand  all 
day  if  they  were  not  ejected  from  the  hall.  This  extra- 
ordinary virtue  did  not  appear  to  be  prevalent,  for  no  one 
rose.  By  sitting  still  they  were  secure,  for  nobody  knew 
them  not  to  be  delegates,  and  they  had  the  wit  not  to  dis- 
cover themselves.  Indeed,  if  they  had,  the  hall  was  so 
densely  packed  that  nobody  could  move  to  another  part, 
and  the  confusion  of  attempting  to  change  places  would 
have  been  ten  times  worse  than  that  which  existed.    I  was 


50 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


surprised  to  hear  the  impossible  proposition  made  to  an 
American  audience.  When  Mr.  George  William  Curtis 
pointed  out  that  it  was  an  incoherent  proposal,  everybody 
laughed  at  it. 

I  had  heard  in  England  a  good  deal  about  American 
political  organization.  It  did  not  appear  in  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  meeting,  though  it  was  well  manifest  in  the 
proceedings.  The  names  of  the  candidates  for  the  chict 
olllce  in  the  gift  of  the  day  were  read  over.  The  popuhir 
name  was  that  of  "Alonzo  B.  Cornell,"  the  son  of  the 
founder  of  the  Cornell  Uiiiversity.  Mr.  Cornell  received 
the  nomination  of  Governor  of  New  York  State.  That 
day  I  heard  his  naipe  pronounced  a  thousand  times.,  Each 
delegate  was  called  upon  to  say  aloud  for  which  candidate 
he  voted.  There  was  only  one  Cornell,  yet  nobody  an- 
swcreil  as  we  should  do  in  England — "  Cornell " — but  each 
said,  with  scrupulous  precision,  "Alonzo  B.  Cornell,"  or 
"Jehosophat  P.  Squattles,"  or  whatever  was  the  name  of 
the  rival  candidate.  Alonzo  was  pronounced  clearly;  the 
B.  separately  and  distinctly,  and  Cor-nell  with  the  accent 
on  the  "  nell "  as  decidedly  as  that  knell  which  "  Macbeth  " 
thought  might  awaken  "  Duncan."  The  name  of  "  Alonzo 
B.  Cornell "  emerged  from  under  the  platform  in  a  musical 
accent,  as  though  it  proceeded  from  a  pianoforte.  "  Alonzo 
B.  Cornell "  was  next  heard  in  the  rough  voice  of  a  miner. 
**  Alonzo  B.  Cornell "  came  in  meek  tones  from  a  delegate 
appointed  for  the  first  time.  "  Alonzo  B.  Cornell "  cried  an 
old  sea  captain,  with  a  voice  like  a  fog-horn.  "  Alonzo  B. 
Cornell "  came  quick  from  the  teeth  of  a  sharp  man  of  busi- 
ness, who  meant  to  put  that  aflHiir  through  at  once.    "  Alonzo 


AMONP    THE     AMERICANS. 


#6< 


B.  Cornell'^  said  a  decided  caucus  leader,  in  a  tone  which 
said,  "Yes,  we  have  settled  that  before  we  came  here," 
"Alonzo  B.  Cornell*'  chirped  a  small  political  sparrow  in  a 
remote  corner  of  the  room.  Then  Mr.  Conkling,  raising 
himself  to  his  full  height  (which  is  considerable,)  in  the  cen- 
tre of  the  platform,  pronounced,  in  tones  of  a  deliberate 
trumpet,  "Alonzo  B.  Cornell.  *  An  hour  was  spent  over 
that  new  governor's  name,  yet  if  "Alonzo  B.'*  had  been 
eliminated,  the  business  had  been  got  through  in  a  third  of 
the  time.  Mr.  Cornell  was  a  modest,  pleasant  gentleman, 
with  a  business-like  method  of  speech.  From  the  interest 
which  was  attached  to  the  course  Mr.  George  William  Cur- 
tis took,  I  wished  to  speak  with  him,  but  could  conceive  no 
sufficient  pretext  for  doing  it.  One  result  of  this  w  as  that 
afterwards  a  friend  had  to  give  me  an  introduction  to  Mr^ 
Curtis,  which  ran  thus: 

"  Dear  Curtis  : — This  is  George  J.  Holyoake,  whose  works  on 
Labor  and  Co-operation  you  know.  *  *  *  He  saw  you  at  Sara- 
toga. With  English  diffidence  he  did  not  introduce  himself.  I  tell 
him  he  must  learn  American  manners.  Till  he  does,  let  me  make 
you  two  acquaint.         Yours  cordially,  Wendell  Phillips." 

The  character  of  every  people,  like  that  of  every  indi- 
vidual, is  made  up  of  flat  contradictions.  The  Americans, 
as  a  rule,  have  a  prompt  apprehensiveness;  their  conversa- 
tion is  clear,  bright,  and  precise;  their  penetration  direct; 
their  narrative  swift,  characterized  by  brilliant  abbrevia- 
tions; yet  these  quick-witted  hearers  will  tolerate  speakers 
in  the  Senate  and  on  the  platform  with  whom  redundancy 
and  indirectness  are  incurable  diseases;  and  will  sit  and  listen 
to  them  just  as  they  would  watch  the  descent  of  a  cataract. 


5^ 


AMONO   Tlin    AMRUiyANS 


\\\\{\\  n  I'luin^o  of  season  slu»ll  tlry  up  tlio  (allinj^f  waters. 
At  the  Saralo^a  O>nvcntlon  "a  prDj^ranimo  of  priiici* 
pies"  was  ivad — callctl  a  "  platform."  No  (lisctM'niucnt 
couM  mako  sure  what  was  nteant,  ami  a  professor  of  mem- 
ory  eouKl  i\»»t  retain  half  t)f  what  was  written.  All  I  recol- 
leet  was  that  the  platforn\  entled  with  st)n)e  niiseellancous 
platitndes  on  tlun,ii>*  in  jijeneral,  bnt  yet  there  were  parts  of 
it  whieh  showetl  eapaeitv  o(  staten\ent — if  t)nlv  the  writer 
hm\  knt>wn  when  to  vstop.  It  was  with  rej;ret  I  was  unable 
to  j;o  to  the  Syracuse  Conventit>n»arul  witness  a  Denu>cratic 
nontinalion,  antl,  perhaps,  furnish  my  friend,  Mr.  Herbert 
Speneer,  with  materials  t\>r  a  chapter  on  "Comparative 
Caueusisnu"  The  8arato«;a  Convention  was  characterizcil 
by  j»Mvat  onler  anil  at*.vM\tit>n  to  whoever  ilesirctl  to  speak. 
If  ai\v  one  put  a  question,  the  a\»swer  was,  "  The  Ciiair 
takes  a  eontrarv  view;  the  Chair  ileeiiles  aijainst  yoiu"  The 
chairn^an  spt>ke  of  himself  as  an  institution,  or  as  a  court  of 
authorilv.     This  I  t'oniul  to  be  a  rule  in  America. 

I  was  toKl  the  Oemocratic  conventio>\s  were  marked  by 
con\parative  turbulence  and  irregularity.  The  New  York 
**  Tribune'*  saiil  that  "lar»ie  heads"  wouUl  abound  at  Svra 
cuse,  I  wantetl  to  see  "  larjjc  heads,"  as  I  had  no  idea  what 
a  political  ^Mai-ge  head"  was.  I  was  told  that  the  Democrats 
are  motv  boisteix>us  and  jxMXMiiptory  in  their  proceedings 
than  Republicans.  The  Democrats*  seem  to  resemble  our 
Tories  at  home — indignant  at  any  dissent  at  their  meetings, 
but  iKM-sistent  in  interrupting  the  meethigs  of  others.  At 
the  SiU'jUoga  Convention  the  immediate  attention  given  to 
any  amlitor  claimitig  to  sjH\ik  by  the  chair,  and,  what  was 
more,  by  the  audience,  was  greater  than  in  England.    In 


AMONO   THE    AMBUICANS. 


53 


In 


Enj»;lan(l  the  ihcory  of  a  public  mcctinjj  ia  that  any  one  of 
the  persons  present  may  adthess  it,  but  we  never  let  thein 
do  it.  If  the  chairman  is  willing  the  audience  is  not.  At 
several  jiublic  meetings  at  which  I  was  present  the  right  of 
a  person  on  the  floor  seemed  ecpial  to  that  of  those  on  the 
platform.  Citizens  seemed  to  recogni/e  the  equality  of 
each  other.  In  England  there  is  no  public  sense  of  equality. 
Somebody  is  supposed  to  be  better  than  anybody. 

While  I  was  at  Saratoga,  one  of  the  New  York  papers 
said  that  "Mr.  Conkling  (who  made  the  chief  speech  of  the 
<lay),  had  two  attentive  listeners  upon  the  platform,  to 
whom  the  proceedings  were  evidently  of  great  interest. 
One  was  Professor  Porter,  of  Yale  College,  the  other,  to 
whom  the  entire  convention  was  an  abs'  'ute  novelty,  was 
George  Jacob  Ilolyoake,  the  English  writer  upon  co  opera- 
tion and  reform  questions  in  general.  Mr.  Ilolyoake  had 
come  to  Saratoga  with  the  sole  purpose  of  seeing  the  con- 
vention, and  seemed  greatly  interested  in  its  methods  of 
procedure,  and  all  its  many  aspects.  lie  remarked  to  a 
friend  that  he  had  been  defending  American  democracy  for 
forty  years,  and  had  now  come  to  observe  for  himself  some 
of  its  practical  manifestations.  He  compared  Mr.  Conk- 
ling*s  manner  of  speech-making  to  Mr.  John  Bright's.  In 
what  respects  I  afterwards  explained  in  a  letter  to  the 
**  Tribune,"  saying : — 

**  I  am  a  connoisseur  in  eloquence,  as  some  men  are  in 
art.  I  have  heard  otl  many  renowned  orators.  But  though 
I  have  lived  near  the  rose,  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  I 
have  caught  the  scent  myself.  It  only  means  that  I  am 
sensible  of  it  when  I  come  near  it.    That  is  what  I  meant 


54 


AMONG   THE   AMERTCANS. 


by  the  remark  of  mine  you  quoted  the  other  day,  concern- 
ing Mr.  Conkling's  speech  at  Saratoga. 

"A  good  presence  is  but  an  accident  of  oratory.  Mr. 
Conkling  has  the  art  to  make  it  a  condition  and  a  grace. 
His  singular  and  sustained  deliberateness,  which  never  de- 
layed, had  a  charm  for  me,  that  quality  of  sustainment  being 
one  of  the  difficulties — as  it  is  one  of  the  marks  of  mastery 
— in  eloquence. 

*^  Mr.  Conkling  ended  sentences  at  times  with  a  simple 
brevity,  where  other  men  would  have  lost  power  in  expan- 
sion, which  they  mistake  for  force.  Mr.  Conkling's  com- 
pression was  completeness.  These  were  the  respects  in 
which  his  speech  at  Saratoga  reminded  me  of  Mr.  Bright." 

The  favorite  water  of  Saratoga  bears  the  name  of  "  Con- 
gress water,"  and  it  was  the  first  natural  mineral  water  I 
found  agreeable  to  drink.  If  Congress  politics  are  as  re- 
freshing as  "  Congress  water,"  America  is  not  badly  off  in 
the  quality  of  its  public  affairs. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


PROPAGANDIST    USES   OF    INTERVIEWING. 


IF  electricity  be  the  source  of  life,  the  press  of  America 
may  be  compared  to  a  vast  machine  for  the  production 
of  intellectual  electricity,  which  vibrates  through  the  na- 
tion, quickening  the  life  of  the  people.  One  of  its  original 
devices  for  this  purpose  is  the  invention  of  interviewing. 

American  newspapers  send  very  able  men  to  Europe, 
who  report  upon  features  and  politics  in  society  with  great 
fidelity  to  facts.  To  catch  the  humors  of  classes,  and  man- 
ner of  thought  of  strange  peoples,  is  a  rare  acquirement — 
more  an  instinct  than  an  acquisition.  It  is  one  thing  to 
satisfy  readers  in  the  country  for  which  you  write,  who  have 
no  means  of  testing  the  accuracy  of  what  is  said,  it  is  quite 
a  different  thing  to  satisfy  the  people  whom  you  describe. 
At  a  time  when  it  was  a  matter  of  political  necessity  to  me 
to  understand  the  way  in  which  the  "  intelligent  foreigner " 
would  be  impressed  by  English  public  affairs,  and  the 
opinions  formed  by  them  of  the  chief  acts  of  English  legis- 
lation, I  used  to  find  the  New  York  "  Tribune "  of  the  first 
order  of  service.  The  letters  sent  from  London,  signed 
"  G.  W.  S.,"  though  they  were  not  received  from  America 
until  twenty  days  after  they  were  written,  frequently  con- 


56 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


taincd  nn  estimate  of  English  political  questions  quite  fresh 
and  instructive  then — as  I  said  elsewhere  years  ago.  A 
stranger  in  a  country,  who  is  a  competent  observer,  will  see 
many  things  which  will  not  strike  an  observer  at  home  at 
all,  nor  at  any  time,  early  or  late.  The  gods  have  often 
been  asked,  but  they  never  have  given  us  the  gift  of  seeing 
ourselves  as  others  see  us. 

Many  persons  do  not  take  well  to  interviewers,  who,  cer- 
tainly, are  troublesome  persons  to  one  who  has  no  definite 
notions.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  be  asked  what  you  mean  if 
you  do  not  know  yourself.  It  is  often  a  very  perplexing 
thing,  even  for  a  public  speaker,  to  be  asked  what  is  the 
purport  of  what  he  intends  to  say.  It  frequently  transpires 
that  he  has  not  thought  of  it  himself.  Indeed,  I  have  many 
times  heard  very  popular  speeches  made,  of  which  nobody 
knew  what  they  were  about.  Sometimes  I  have  heard  ser- 
mons which  left  the  congregation  in  this  doubt.  As  a  jour- 
nalist, I  have  seen  leading  articles  in  English  newspapers 
which  gave  the  reader  a  great  deal  of  trouble  to  discover 
their  object.  Indeed,  I  will  not  disclaim  having  written 
such  myself.  Lord  Westbury  used  to  say  that  many  per- 
sons assumed  the  possession  of  an  endowment  which  "  they 
are  pleased  to  call  their  minds,"  which  is  not  at  all  apparent 
to  others.  Persons  who  have  a  talent  for  not  knowing 
what  they  mean  should  keep  out  of  the  way  of  American 
interviewers. 

The  interviewer  is  an  inquirer,  and  he  visits  you  partly 
from  courtesy,  partly  for  the  sake  of  news.  He  asks  you 
questions  upon  subjects  which  he  thinks  may  interest  the 
readers  of  the  journal  he  represents ;  he  uses  his  own  judg- 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


57 


ment  as  to  what  he  will  report  of  what  you  say.  If  he  in- 
quires where  you  are  going  and  what  your  object  may  be 
in  visiting  certain  places,  and  reports  the  particulars,  per- 
sons likely  to  promote  your  object  communicate  with  you ; 
and  people  in  the  towns  mentioned  become  aware  of  your 
visit,  and  bestow  attentions  f  nd  courtesy  which  otherwise 
could  never  be  rendered.  If  you  have  special  ideas  you 
want  to  propagate  the  interviewer  is  your  best  friend.  Your 
views  are  spread  all  over  the  country.  Sometimes  by 
accident,  and  sometimes  by  intention,  he  gives  a  provoking 
turn  to  your  ideas;  the  object  is  that  you  should  write  to 
his  paper  and  correct  them,  that  is  if  he  thinks  a  letter  from 
you  would  be  of  interest  to  his  journal.  You  then  have  the 
opportunity  of  expressing  yourself  exactly  as  you  wish  to 
be  understood.  An  ill-tempered  or  unskilful  writer  will 
charge  the  interviewer  with  unpardonable  inaccuracy.  It 
is  fairer,  as  well  as  more  prudent,  to  assume  that  the  error 
arose  in  your  own  unskilfulness  in  giving  impromptu  an- 
swers to  unexpected  questions.  This  is  likely  to  be  the 
case.  If  time  admits  of  it,  and  you  can  go  to  the  office  at 
the  proper  hour,  you  may  revise  yourself  the  proof  of  what 
you  have  said.  A  little  skill  will  enable  anyone  to  do  this 
by  a  change  of  word  here  and  there,  so  as  not  to  cause 
what  printers  call  "  overrunning,"  which  would  delay  the 
office  too  much  at  a  late  hour.  If  a  newspaper  is  disposed 
to  regard  your  views  as  interesting  to  the  country,  it  will 
even  permit  you  to  interview  yourself.  In  that  case  you 
ask  yourself  the  questions  you  want  to  answer,  and  give 
your  own  replies;  and  if  you  produce  an  interrogatory 


' 


58 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


paper  which  is  not  absolutely  dull,  you  may  have  the  pleas- 
ure of  seeing  it  inserted. 

Interviewers,  like  reporters,  are  of  two  kinds.  I  remem- 
ber on  one  occasion  a  Cabinet  Minister,  who,  intending  to 
address  his  constituency  in  the  country,  was  desirous  to  pro- 
vide for  an  accurate  report  appearing  in  the  London  papers. 
He  inquired  whether  he  had  better  take  a  reporter  down.  I 
answered  that  it  all  depended  upon  what  kind  of  report  he 
wanted  to  appear  of  his  speech.  If  he  wanted  an  exact  report 
of  what  he  said,  he  must  provide  a  shorthand  writer  who 
could  follow  him  word  for  word.  Such  a  reporter  he  might 
find  connected  with  a  good  local  journal.  But  if  he  wanted 
an  abridgment  of  his  speech,  or  a  condensed  report  of  it,  he 
must  take  some  one  from  London — one  who  could  perfectly 
understand  what  he  wanted  to  say  and  what  he  ought  to 
say,  and  who  could  present  a  statement  of  a  speech  which 
would  be  coherent  and  effective — a  statement  that  the 
speaker  might  not  be  ashamed  of  whether  he  said  it  or  not. 
A  verbatim  reporter  is  best  if  you  are  perfectly  sure  of  what 
you  intend  to  say  and  perfectly  sure  of  expressing  it  accur- 
ately and  without  repetition.  A  verbatim  reporter  reports 
exactly  what  you  say— errors  and  all,  if  there  be  errors — 
but  as  a  rule  he  is  utterly  incapable  of  condensing  except  by 
omitting  and  making  connections  in  his  own  language, 
which  would  commonly  be  slipshod,  incoherent,  feeble; 
often  expressing  the  very  opposite  of  what  was  intended. 
In  condensing,  a  reporter  is  thrown  upon  his  own  mind,  and 
if  he  has  no  mind  the  result  is  commonly  commensurate 
therewith.  An  abridged  report  can  only  be  done  by  a  man 
of  political  discernment,  who  can  catch  the  style  and  man- 


n 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


59 


ner  of  a  speaker,  and  reproduce  his  idiomatic  turn  of  thought. 
A  reporter  of  this  capacity  is  seldom  retained  about  a  prov- 
incial paper,  except  in  the  larger  towns,  where  papers  are 
conducted  with  metropolitan  ability;  or  where  the  editor 
will  undertake  to  condense  the  speech  for  you  from  a  literal 
report. 

Among  the  interviewers  I  met  in  America,  some  were 
quite  capable  of  doing  this;  but  when  they  were  otherwise 
I  seldom  knew  what  to  expect  until  I  read  it.  Sometimes 
I  read  reports  of  interviews  I  did  not  know  again,  until  I 
reread  the  heading  and  found  they  related  to  me.  I  ex- 
pressed myself  in  a  colloquial,  spontaneous  way,  using  ex- 
pressions never  intended  to  be  reproduced — supplying  a 
v&.'iety  to  be  selected  from,  merely  to  give  the  interviewer 
a  complete  idea  of  what  I  had  in  my  mind ;  and  I  often 
found  that  the  oddest  phrases  had  alone  made  an  impression 
upon  the  interviewer,  who  gave  the  illustrations  and  left  the 
ideas  out.  When  I  wished  to  avoid  this  I  had  to  express 
myself  with  deliberate  consideration.  Then  an  interview  is 
quite  a  useful  exercise. 

On  one  occasion,  when  travelling  in  Massachusetts,  on 
my  way  to  Boston,  a  gentleman  who  had  met  me  at  the 
Narragansett  Hotel,  Fall  River,  joined  the  train  at  a  wayside 
station.  Having  calculated  that  I  should  be  in  that  train  he 
dropped  in  quite  "promiscuously."  In  the  most  casual 
manner  he  found  an  opportunity  of  entering  into  conversa- 
tion w^ith  me,  and  incidentally  asked  me  about  my  early  re- 
ligious life,  and  then  concerning  social  and  political  affairs 
in  which  I  had  been  engaged.  His  inquiries  were  in  no 
way  obtrusive,  nor  were  they  one-sided,  as  I,  glad  at  falling 


Co 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


in  with  a  communicative  passenger,  asked  many  questioim 
myself.  The  noveUy  of  Uoaton  city,  which  I  saw  tliat 
nijrht  for  the  first  time,  soon  erased  all  memory  of  the  con- 
versation. 

The  next  morning  I  read  in  the  Boston  "Herald"  an 
article  beginning — "  There  arrived  last  night  at  the  Adams 
House  an  English  visitor;"  and  then  followed  a  description 
of  my  career  and  views,  and  what  the  writer  was  pleased 
to  consider  my  public  services,  remarkably  well  expressed. 
The  character  of  the  article  laid  me  under  obligation  to  the 
writer,  who  was  clearly  a  master  in  the  art  of  interviewing. 
His  malerials  were  retained  in  a  trained  memory;  he  re- 
spected what  might  be  counted  as  private  particulars  of  an 
unguarded  and  friendly  conversation,  and  presented  to  the 
public  exactly  what  a  gentleman  might  relate,  and  what  a 
visitor  concerned  might  even  find  gratification  in  seeing  told. 

One  example  of  interviewing  may  explain  its  character, 
uses,  and  vicissitudes,  than  further  description.  I  retain  the 
first  paragraph  of  the  following  passage  from  the  New 
York  "  Tribune,"  because  it  admits  that  at  least  I  had  paid 
the  country  in  which  I  was  a  stranger  the  compliment  of 
endeavoring  to  understand  its  public  affairs: 

*'  Mr.  Holyoake  is  remarkably  well  versed  in  American  politics,  and 
is  as  ardent  a  Republican  as  if  he  liad  lived  all  his  life  here,  and  had 
taken  part  in  the  great  struggles  against  slavery  and  rebellion.  The 
Democratic  party  he  likens  to  the  Tory  party  in  England.  It  will 
take  England,  he  says,  a  generation  to  make  good  the  mischief  the 
Tories  have  done  during  the  seven  years  they  have  been  in  power, 
and  he  predicts  a  like  misfortune  if  the  party  of  reaction  should  be 
allowed  to  get  possession  of  this  Government.  The  other  day,  a  re- 
cent convert  from  Republicanism  to  Democracy  was  def(9hding  his 


AMONG   THE   AMEKICANS. 


6i 


Changs  by  urguing  that  the  country  would  never  be  at  peace  until  the 
South  was  fully  rcincorporntcd  into  the  Union,  and  that  that  could 
only  be  done  by  giving  it  the  reaponsibility  of  power  In  the  Govern 
ment.  Mr.  Ilolyoake  listened  attentively  to  the  argument,  and  re- 
plied: *That  is  as  if  the  crew  of  a  good  ship  which  had  made  a 
prosperous  voyage  and  beaten  o  T  o  gang  of  pirates,  should  say,  •  the 
only  way  to  get  on  witii  these  fellows  is  to  invite  them  on  board  and 
ask  ihcm  to  run  the  vessel.'  The  first  thing  the  pirates  would  do 
on  coming  on  board  would  be  to  cut  the  throats  of  the  crew.' 

"Mr.  Holyoake  says  Lord  Beaconsficld  has  been  filibustering  in 
a  shameful  manner  in  Afghanistan  and  Africa.  •  The  average  Eng- 
lishman was  attached  to  the  monarchy,'  he  said  to  a  *  Tribune' 
reporter  the  other  day,  while  discussing  this  subject.  •  We  regarded 
the  crown  as  a  graceful  ornament  of  the  State,  occupying  the  ambi- 
tion of  the  aristocracy,  and  quite  harmless  to  the  liberties  of  the  peo- 
ple.' Now  we  discover  this  is  false.  •  When  the  English  people 
killed  Charles  I.  they  did  not  kill  the  prerogatives  of  the  crown. 
They  only  frightened  his  successors  from  using  these  prerogatives. 
Beaconsfield  has  shown  us  that  treaties  can  be  made,  wars  waged,  and 
the  country  committed  to  any  infamy,  without  parliament  knowing 
anything  about  it.  Beaconstield  flattered  the  Queen  with  the  title  of 
Empress,  jeopardizing  the  succession  of  her  son.  Gladstone  served 
the  crown  faithfully,  and  made  it  respected.  In  return  the  Queen 
said  to  Beaconsfield  that  Gladstone  was  neither  mentally  nor  morally 
fitted  to  govern,  thus  intimating  that  he  was  insane  and  dishonest- 
he,  the  truest,  clearest-headed  man  in  all  England.  If  there  were  no 
other  escape  from  an  irresponsible  government,  I  would  drown  the 
royal  family  in  the  Thames,  yet  no  man  has  more  respect  for  the 
Queen  than  I,  and  I  have  a  much  better  opinion  of  the  Prince  of 
Wales  than  many  have." 

One  passage  in  this  paragraph  was  erroneously  rendered. 
As  it  includes  an  unfair  charge  against  Lord  Beaconsfield, 
which  I  would  no  more  make  abroad  than  I  would  at  home, 
I  wrote  to  the  editor,  saying : 


6a 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


"  Were  It  customary,  I  should  desire  to  express  my  obligations  to 
the  •  IVibune '  reporter  for  tlie  trouble  he  has  taken  to  render  in  your 
impression  of  Monday,  November  lo,  the  general  purport  of  the  con- 
versatiotis  I  had  the  pleasure  to  have  with  him.  Yet,  either  from 
my  habitual  rapidity  of  speech  on  subjects  which  interest  me,  or  from 
misplacement  of  some  note,  an  error  of  statement  occurs  which  it  is 
my  duty  to  ask  your  permission  to  correct. 

«'  It  was  not  her  Majesty  the  Queen  who  said  to  Lord  Beaconsfield 
that  *  Mr.  Ghulstonc  was  not  either  mentally  or  morally  fitted  to 
govern.'  It  was  Loni  Beaconsfield  who  said  this  of  the  Queen.  I  well 
remember  it  was  not  long  before  his  accession  to  power;  and  that  the 
remark  was  t!\e  wonder  of  the  week  as  to  wluit  lie  could  mean  by  it. 
It  was  the  remembrance  of  this  which  occasioned  so  much  astonish- 
ment among  all  classes  in  England  that  her  Majesty  should  pay  a 
personal  visit  to  one  who  had  thus  spoken  of  her.  The  English  peo- 
ple, who  have  political  gratitude,  were  jealous  that  her  Majesty 
should  accord  a  distinction  to  Lord  Beaconsfield  which  she  was  not 
known  to  have  paid  to  Mr.  Gladstone — a  real  friend  of  the  crown, 
and  wlio  liad  served  the  nation  with  splendid  disinterestedness  and 
tireless  devotion.  Besides,  if  sucli  a  remark  as  the  one  in  question 
had  been  made  by  the  Queen  to  Lord  Beaconsfield,  his  lordship  must 
be  inferred  to  be  tlie  reporter  of  it.  That  is  impossible ;  because  a 
mijiister  of  the  crown  in  England  never  reports  words  of  the  Queen 
without  her  permission.  No  one  among  us  can  conceive  of  the 
Queen  as  liaving  made  such  a  remark  as  that  cited,  of  a  minister  so 
eminent  as  Mr.  Gladstone.  Indeed,  the  delicacv,  womanlv  considera- 
tion,  and  graciousness  of  her  Majest^^'s  language,  in  whatever  she  is 
known  to  have  said,  is  matter  of  household  admiration  in  England. 
Indeeii,  the  best  Republicans  I  know  have,  as  I  have,  a  sort  of  rever- 
ence for  the  personal  character  of  the  Queen,  and  at  the  same  time 
an  increasing  disbelief  in  the  efticacy  or  usefulness  of  the  political 
functions  which  the  Queen  has  inherited. 

"  It  is  our  pride  to  keep  these  things  quite  distinct  in  England. 
Great  as  is  my  dislike  of  the  rule  of  Lord  Beaconsfield,  greater  is 
therefore  the  obligation  upon  me  not  to  use  any  phrase  wiiich  im- 


Ingland. 
[eater  is 
lich  im- 


AMONG   TUB    AMERICANS. 


63 


plies  personal  injustice  to  him.  Doubtless  he  believes  he  is  promoting 
the  rightful  interests  of  England;  but  m^'  difficulty  in  perceiving  it 
is,  I  believe,  incurable. ' 

A  change  of  phrase  or  mistake  in  a  term  may  lend  an  air 
of  ferocity  to  your  language  which  was  never  in  your  mind. 
When  I  wrote  the  above  letter  I  had  not  observed  that  I 
was  committed  to  "drowning  the  royal  family  in  the 
Thames."  It  was  the  crown  and  not  the  "  royal  family" 
which  I  proposed  conditionally  to  sink  in  the  London  Bos- ' 
phorus.  There  was  no  intention  of  desire  to  misrepresent 
anything  I  had  said,  and  the  explan.ition  sent  was  promptly 
and  prominently  inserted  in  the  "  Tribune,"  in  which  the  in- 
terview appeared. 

The  singular  speech  about  the  queen  was  made  by  Mr. 
Disraeli  at  a  Tory  dinner  at  Aylesbury.  The  reporters 
were  so  astonished  at  it  that  they  hesitated  to  transcribe  it, 
and  I  have  since  been  informed  that  one  of  them  went  to 
Mr.  Disraeli  and  asked  permission  to  read  it  to  him,  to  be 
sure  of  its  correctness.     He  assented  to  its  accuracy. 

This  statement  of  Lord  Beaconsfield  seemed,  when  read 
in  America,  quite  astounding;  and  incredulity  arose  as  to 
whether  he  really  said  it.  It  was  thought  that  I  was  under 
some  erroneous  impression.  When  I  returned  to  England 
I  mentioned  it  to  some  "  well-informed "  politicians,  who 
did  not  recollect  having  heard  of  it.  It  was  not  pleasant  to 
leave  it  to  be  supposed  that  I  had  made  abroad  a  statement 
that  could  not  be  verified  at  home.  As  looking  up  the 
newspapers  of  nine  years  ago  involved  some  trouble,  I 
mentioned  the  matter  to  a  "better  informed  politician,"  who 
said   the  fact   was  recorded  in  Irving's  "Annals  of  Our 


64 


AMONG    THE   AMERICANS. 


Time."  Lord  Beaconsfield's  speech  was  made  thirteen 
days  before  the  great  fire  of  Chicago.  To  save  me  trouble 
my  friend  looked  up  the  facts  and  sent  me  this  information : 

The  text  of  the  speech,  as  reported  in  the  "  Standard  "  and  the 
"Daily  Telegraph  "  of  September  27th,  1871,  runs  thus:  "The  health 
of  the  queen  has  for  several  years  been  the  subject  of  anxiety  to  those 

about  her I  do  not  think  we  can  conceal  from  ourselves  that 

a  still  longer  time  must  elapse  before  Her  Majesty  will  be  able  to  re- 
sume the  performance  of  those  public  and  active  duties  which  it  was 
once  her  pride  and  pleasure  to  fulfil The  fact  is  that  we  can- 
not conceal  from  ourselves  that  Her  Majesty  \%  physically  and  morally 
incapaciiated  from  performing  those  duties." 

The  "  Times "  ^nd  the  "  Daily  News "  omit  the  words 
"  and  morally."  Mr.  Joseph  Irving,  in  the  Supplement  to 
h^'s  "  Annals  of  Our  Time,"  gives  a  paragraph  that  contains 
the  phrase  in  full. 

The  "  Times"  omitted  the  strange  word  "  morally,"  prob- 
ably doubting  that  it  could  be  said.  The  "  Daily  News " 
omitted  it,  probably  believing  it  would  be  offensive  to  the 
Queen,  as  well  it  might  be.  Not  long  since  Lord  Sherbrooke, 
then  the  Rt.  Hon.  Robert  Lowe,  M.  P.,  was  required  to 
make  a  public  apology  for  a  mere  incidental  reference  to 
Her  Majesty — a  trifle  compared  to  this  outrage  by  Lord 
Beaconsfield.  Had  language  such  as  he  used  been  spoken 
by  a  political  leader  in  America  of  the  lady  who  is  at  the 
head  of  the  State,  our  aristocratic  journalists  would  have 
written  very  instructive  comments  on  American  political 
comments. 

In  Washington  the  one  inquiry  of  the  interviewer  of  the 
"  Daily  Post "  was,  "  How  long  would  the  Beaconsfield 
Government   last?"      They   had   learned   in   Washington 


fi 
t 


prol> 
ews" 

to  the 
coke, 
ed  to 

nee  to 
Lord 

poken 

at  the 
have 
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isfiekl 
Ington 


\\ 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS.  6j 

from  the  English  Jingo  journals  that  the  Tories  believed 
that  the  nation  was  impatient  to  renew  their  lease  of  power. 
My  answer  was  that  the  people  did  not  look  upon  the  Bea- 
consfield  Government  as  English.  The  Zulu  and  Afghan 
invasions  they  regarded  as  the  last  wars  of  the  Pentateuch, 
and  that  at  the  next  election  Mr.  Gladstone  would  be  pre- 
mier again  if  he  chose.  He  was  disliked  by  Tories,  and  by 
a  minority  of  Liberals,  for  his  sincerity — a  quality  new  and 
unmanageable  by  politicians — but  a  great  majority  of  the 
people  absolutely  revered  him  for  that  reaso  ,  These  re- 
marks were  published  in  the  Washington  "  Daily  Post," 
October  27,  1879,  nearly  six  months  before  the  fall  of  Lord 
^v  aconsfield,  and  when  very  few  persons  believed  its  end 
'-  xS  near. 

What  is  the  state  of  Republican  sentiment  in  England? 
was  another  question  of  the  interviewer.  My  reply  was 
that  we  had  always  been  told  that  the  Premier  was  virtually 
King,  and  that  as  he  was  responsible  to  Parliament,  we  had 
a  virtual  Republic.  But  Lord  Beaconsfield  had  discovered 
to  us  that  there  were  sleeping  powers  of  the  Crown  which 
might  be  ignited  like  a  torpedo  and  blow  up  the  virtual  Re- 
public any  morning — sleeping  powers  which  any  traitor  or 
theorist  who  happened  to  be  Premier  could  constitutionally 
advise  the  revival  of.  During  his  administration,  therefore, 
he  created  fifty  Republicans  from  conviction  for  one  that 
existed  before  from  sentiment. 

Our  great  political  parties  in  England  are  as  interesting 
to  an  American  as  theirs  are  to  Englishmen.  Being  asked 
for  definitions  of  political  parties  in  England,  my  answer 
was  this:  The  Conservatives  keep  from  the  people  all  they 


'  I 


66 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


can ;  the  Liberals  give  all  they  think  practicable :  the  Radir 
cals  demand  all  they  think  right. 

At  Kansas  City  I  had  to  give  my  opinion  of  Mr.  Parnell, 
and  Irish  Home  Rule,  and  to  explain  whether  I  thought 
hini  sincere.  I  answered  that  I  knew  no  reason  why  he 
should  not  be,  seeing  that  Home  Rule  in  local  affairs  is  not 
an  unreasonable  demand.  The  difficulty  of  giving  up  Ire-, 
land  entirely,  was  the  belief  that  it  would  be  handed  over 
to  the  occupation  of  the  French,  as  many  of  the  leaders 
were  spiteful  to  the  English;  and  that  would  put  England 
to  the  trouble  of  fighting  both  nations.  For  a  long  time 
past  we  had  treated  the  Irish  better  than  they  would  treat 
us  if  we  were  in  their  hands.  We  had  relieved  them  from 
an  Established  Church,  and  given  them  a  better  land  law 
than  we  had  ourselves.  In  England,  now,  we  regarded 
Ireland  as  the  Land  of  the  Free,  and  thought  of  emigrating 
to  it  ourselves,  instead  of  coming  to  America.  Events  since 
prove  that  Ireland  is  entitled  to  further  and  substantial 
improvement  in  her  land  laws,  and  will  get  it. 

But  interviewing  did  not  all  turn  on  politics.  Industrial, 
and  especially  co-operative  questions  were  still  more  fre- 
quent. It  was  in  this  way,  and  by  the  ability  and  generous 
trouble  of  interviewers,  that  the  facts  concerning  co-opera- 
tion and  its  progress  in  England  came  to  be,  for  the  first 
time,  generally  diffused  over  the  United  States.  I  did  not 
know  then  what  Lord  Beaconsfield  had  written  in  his  "  En- 
dymion,"  or  it  would  have  confirmed  all  and  more  than  all 
I  ventured  to  say  of  the  future  of  the  great  movement.  I 
mean  where  Lord  Beaconsfield  represents  his  new  hero, 
"Endymion,"  as  conversing  with  one  of  Mr.   Cobden's 


ii 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


67 


strial, 
fre- 
erous 
pera- 
first 
Id  not 
*  En- 
,n  all 
t.  I 
[hero, 
Iden's 


I 


workmen  at  his  print  works  in  Manchester,  when  the  work- 
man said  that  there  was  something  better  than  Free  Trade, 
that  would  one  day  carry  all  before  it,  and  that  was  "  Co- 
operation." This  is  a  very  remarkable  statement  from  so 
competent  an  observer  of  the  advancing  forces  of  society. 

The  only  time  when  I  took  advantage  of  the  facilities  of 
interviewing  to  say  anything  personal  to  myself  was  when 
I  was  asked  concerning  the  writings  of  mine  on  Co-opera- 
tion. The  questions  and  answers  as  they  appeared  were  as 
follows. 

"  Is  your  book  on  Co-operation  to  be  had  in  this  country  ?  " 
"  Mf  first  book,  called  the  '  History  of  the  Equitable  Pioneers  of 
Rochdale,'  published  in  1857,  was  brought  out  in  this  country  by  the 
•  Tribune.'  I  presume  it  is  out  of  print  now.  tt  was  said  to  have 
caused  the  establishment  of  over  two  hundred  co-operative  stores  in 
England  within  two  years  after  its  appearance.  With  many  other 
English  authors  of  far  more  consequence  than  myself,  I  have  pro- 
moted a  law  of  international  copyright;  but  I  for  one  have  something 
to  say  in  favor  of  pirating.  My  '  History  of  Co-operation  in  England 
from  1812  to  1878'  is  published  by  Lippincott.  It  took  me  ten  years 
to  write  it  and  cost  £1,000  ($S,ooo),  counting  what  I  might  have 
earned  otherwise  in  the  time,  and  the  cost  for  printing  it.  I  never 
expect  to  see  my  money  again.  Gain  by  it  never  entered  my  mind. 
Now  if  some  enterprising  American  house  will  pirate  it,  I  will  gladly 
relinquish  my  copyright.  Possibly  I  might  gain  repute,  and  certainly 
it  might  do  good ;  for  the  critics  who  said  it  was  not  instructive  said 
it  was  amusing,  and  those  who  said  it  was  not  amusing  said  it  was  in- 
structive. If  any  one  had  written  the  history  of  the  past  sixty  years 
of  the  working  class  after  serfdom  was  abolished  and  hired  service 
commenced,  how  the  book  would  be  valued  now!  My  calculation 
was  that  two  hundred  years  hence,  when  co-operation  has  superseded 
hired  labor  by  self-employment,  some  one  will  find  my  book  in  the 


68 


AMONG    Tllli:    AMERICANS. 


British  Museum  and  reprint  it,  as  an  utterly  unknown  work.     A^ 
friendly  pirate  might  cause  the  book  to  be  read  a  little  earlier." 

If  these  details  have  not  wearied  the  reader,  before  reach- 
ing the  end  of  them,  he  may  see  reason  to  share  my  opinion 
as  to  the  propagandist  uses  of  interviewing,  and  the  gener- 
ous facilities  of  publicity  it  affords  to  strangers. 


) 


jach- 
inion 
;ner- 


CHAPTER  V. 


MEN   OF    ACTION    IN    BOSTON. 


THERE  are  men  of  thought  and  action  in  most  cities. 
They  abound  in  New  York,  in  Chicago,  in  Cincin- 
nati ;  but  it  is  a  different  kind  of  thought  from  that  which 
excites  the  interest  of  a  stranger  in  Boston.  In  Bayard 
Taylor's  translation  of  "  Faust,"  the  lines  occur — 

When  the  crowd  sways,  unbelieving, 
Show  the  daring  will  that  warms, 

He  is  crowned  with  all  achieving 
Who  perceives  and  then  performs. 

But  the  merit  of  this  discernment  altogether  depends  upon 
the  quality  of  the  thought  which  is  converted  into  social 
force.  The  people  who  perceive  what  is  right  and  do  not 
do  it,  are  more  numerous  than  is  supposed.  Next  to  the 
knaves,  those  philosophers  are  the  most  contemptible  who, 
seeing  the  errors  of  the  multitude,  keep  their  wisdom  to 
themselves.  It  is  more  respectable  to  be  a  fool  than  to  have 
knowledge  and  be  indifferent  to  the  duty  it  imposes  of  gen- 
erously diffusing  it,  and  raising  the  level  of  social  and  pub- 
lic life  thereby.  The  only  philosophers  worth  honoring  are 
they  who,  like  Petrarch,  have  a  passion  "  for  setting  forth 
the  law  of  their  own  minds,  and  employ  their  understand- 


70 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


ings  and  ncquircments  in  that  mode  and  direction  in  whicli 
they  may  most  benefit  the  largest  number  possible  of  their 
fellow-creatures." 

The  greatest  of  modern  Italians,  Mazzini,  had  a  favorite 
phrase,  "  Thought  and  Action."  In  public  affairs  thought 
which  docs  not  imply  action,  or  lead  to  it,  or  incite  it  and 
mean  it,  is  not  to  be  counted  in  the  forces  of  opinion.  The 
distinction  of  Boston  is  that  its  thought  seems  always  meant 
for  political  or  moral  action.  It  is  this  purpose  which,  more 
tiian  its  general  intellectual  brightness,  has  given  this  city 
dignity  and  influence  beyond  that  of  any  other  in  America. 
It  led  the  war  of  independence;  it  led  the  war  against  sla- 
very. Its  philosophers  think,  and  even  its  minstrels  sing, 
heroic  ballads  of  improvement.  Other  cities  carry  palms 
of  great  achievements  which  make  their  names  memorable,  , 
but  Boston  is  a  city  of  inspiration. 

If  I  had  a  personal  object  in  visiting  America,  it  was  to 
meet  Mr.  Wendell  Phillips,  whose  intrepid  eloquence,  con- 
fronting dangerous  majorities,  and  animating  forlorn  hopes, 
has  ever  been  generously  exerted  on  behalf  of  the  slave, 
black  or  white,  in  bondage  to  planter  or  capitalist.  As  the 
only  oration  he  had  delivered  against  any  one,  out  of  his 
own  land,  was  a  reply  to  certain  "  Ion  "  letters  of  mine,  in 
1854,  on  "Methods  of  Anti-slavery  Advocacy,"  I  presented 
myself  at  his  door,  as  his  ancient  and  alien  adversary;  and 
the  historic  sights  of  Boston  were  made  more  memorable  in 
my  eyes,  because  they  were  shown  me  by  him.  Men  who 
had  heard  Mr.  Phillips  and  the  most  famous  orators  of 
Europe,  regarded  him  as  excelling  in  the  mighty  career  of 
speech,  which  resembles  the  torrent  rather  than  the  volcano, 


in 


AMONG   TUB    AMERICANS. 


71 


' 


in  its  inherent  impetus  and  splendid  rush.  While  I  was  in 
Bost  11,  he  was  engaged  by  the  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
to  deliver  an  oration  on  "  Daniel  O'Connell."  I  desired  it  to 
be  communicated  to  the  authorities  concerned,  that  if  they 
would  arrange  a  time  for  the  oration  when  I  could  be  pres- 
ent, I  would  become  a  votary  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  Unfortunately  they  did  not  attach  sufficient  im- 
portance to  my  adhesion,  and  it  never  fell  to  my  lot  to  hear 
him. 

In  many  cities,  from  English  as  well  as  Americans  among 
all  classes,  I  was  told  that  I  "  ought  not  to  leave  the  country 
without  hearing  Phillips."  This  was  never  said  to  me  of 
any  other  speaker.  Stories  I  oft  heard  told  of  his  perils  and 
triumphs  on  the  platform,  exceed  anything  I  know  in  the 
annals  of  oratory.  One  of  his  repartees  has  lately  appeared 
in  English  papers.  It  occurred  in  the  days  when  all  the 
churches  preached  in  favor  of  slavery.  One  day  a  minister 
met  Mr.  Phillips,  and,  thinking  to  be  smart  and  unpleasant, 
said  to  him,  "  If  your  business  is  to  promote  the  freedom  of 
slaves,  why  do  you  not  go  South  and  attend  to  your  busi- 
ness?" "May  I  ask  what  is  your  business?"  said  Mr. 
Phillips.  "  Oh,  my  business  is  to  preach  the  gospel,  and 
save  souls  from  hell."  "  Then,  why  do  you  not  go  to  hell 
and  attend  to  your  business?"  was  Mr.  Phillips'  answer; 
and  the  point  of  the  reply  was  that  It  was  about  as  pleasant 
and  quite  as  safe  to  go  down  South  at  that  time  pleading 
for  slaves  among  planters,  as  visiting  the  Satanic  kingdom 
would  be ;  and  the  preacher  knew  It.  It  may  be  said  of 
Wendell  Phillips  as  was  said  of  Luther,  "  God  honored  him 
by  making  all  the  worst  men  his  enemies." 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


As  my  business  in  America  was  idleness,  and  the  only 
exercise  I  intended  to  take  was  sleep — never  having  had  a 
season  of  recreation  before — I  did  r  ot  see  half  the  men  of 
mark  I  might  have  met  in  Poston. 

One  morning,  after  taking  nie  to  Bunker's  Hill,  and 
repeating  a  passage  from  Webster's  splendid  oration  there 
when  the  monument  on  it  was  completed,  Mr.  Phillips 
showed  me  the  Auburn  Cemetery,  where  I  was  surprised 
to  see  the  tomb  of  Spurzheini,  he  said,  "  Hard  by  lives  Mr. 
Longfellow,  in  an  old  English  mansion,  formerly  occupied 
for  a  time  by  General  "W  ashington,"  and  there  I  had  the 
pleasure  to  converse  for  a  short  time  with  the  poet,  whose 
works  are  in  many  co-operative  libraries,  and  whose  poems 
of  inspiration  I  had  oft  heard  recited  on  their  platforms. 
Longfellow's  bearded  and  august  face  gives  him  the  appear- 
ance now  of  a  Jupiter  of  poetry.  Mr.  Lowell's  .house  lies 
not  far  away  among  the  trees  of  Cambridge,  but  he  was  in 
Europe  then.  We  are  all  glad  he  is  the  American  Minister 
in  London  now. 

The  diffidence  Mr.  Phillips  reproached  me  with  of  not 
visiting  persons  I  wished  to  see  without  some  colorable  pre- 
text, was  nearly  fatal  to  my  seeing  Mr.  Emerson.  Several 
mornings  Mr.  Phillips  went  with  me  to  the  libraries  and 
book  stores,  where  Mr.  Emerson  was  sure  to  be  found 
when  he  came  up  to  Boston  from  Concord,  but  without 
meeting  with  him.  One  day  at  the  library,  Mr.  Phillips 
introduced  me  to  a  banker,  saying,  "  This  is  my  friend,  Mr. 
Holyoake,  from  London.  He  has  never  said  a  word  about 
it,  but  I  suspect  he  is  a  believer  in  *  hard  money,'  which  is 
the  one  virtue  which  you  will  have  to  save  you."     "  Yes,  I 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


73 


may  escape  by  that,"  replied  the  banker,  addressing  me; 
"but  your  friend,  Mr.  Phillips,  has  so  many  virtues,  which 
we  all  recognize,  that  his  future  is  secure,  despite  his  one 
bin  of  believing  in  *  paper  currency.'" 

It  came  to  pass  that  Mr.  Stevens,  of  Cambridge,  gave 
me  a  letter  to  Dr.  Allcot,  of  Concord,  asking  him  to  take 
me  to  see  Mr.  Emerson.  So,  in  company  with  my  friend, 
Mr.  Verity,  formerly  of  Lancashire,  I,  not  knowing  the 
way,  set  out  to  Concord.  The  way  thereto,  and  the  place 
itself,  were  as  bright  as  the  historical  associations  of  the 
town.  If  ever  Concord  made  up  its  mind  to  be  content,  it 
would  be  in  that  pleasant  spot  where  water  and  wood,  spa- 
cious plains,  quiet  villas,  and  fairy  roads  abound.  Mr.  Emer- 
son's daughter  being  from  home,  the  philosopher  received 
us  himself.  Pictures  and  works  of  art,  which  it  was  good 
to  look  upon,  were  just  numerous  enough  to  be  part  of  the 
household.  Touching,  like  an  enchanter,  a  panel,  which 
was  not  noticeable,  it  slid  away,  and  we  entered  the  study, 
which  no  one  could  see  without  interest.  Though  tall,  Mr. 
Emerson  is  still  erect,  and  has  the  bright  eye  and  calm 
grace  of  manner  we  knew  when  he  was  in  England  longr 
years  ago.  In  European  eyes,  his  position  among  men  of 
letters  in  America  is  as  that  of  Carlyle  among  English 
writers;  with  the  added  quality,  as  I  think,  of  greater  brave- 
ness  of  thought  and  clearness  of  sympathy.  The  impres- 
sion among  many,  to  whom  I  spoke  in  America,  I  found  to 
be  that  while  Carlyle  inspires  you  to  do  something,  not 
clearly  defined,  when  you  have  read  Emerson  you  know 
what  you  have  to  do.  However,  Mr.  Emerson  would  ad- 
mit nothing  that  would  challenge  the  completer  merits  of 


74 


AMONO   THE   AMERICANS. 


his  illustrious  friend  at  Chclscn.  He  showed  me  the  later 
and  eariicr  portraits  of  Carlyle  which  he  most  cherished; 
made  affectionate  inquiries  concerning  him  personally,  and 
as  to  whether  I  knew  of  anything  that  had  proceeded  from 
his  pen  which  he  had  not  in  his  library.  Friends  had  told 
me  that  age  seemed  now  a  little  to  impair  Mr.  Emerson^s 
memory,  but  I  found  his  recollection  of  England  accurate 
and  full  of  detail.  A  fine  portrait  of  him,  which  Mr.  Wen- 
dell Phillips  presented  to  me,  has  been  generally  thought 
by  those  who  have  not  seen  Emerson  to  be  a  portrait  of 
Mr.  Gladstone,  whom  he  certainly  very  much '  resembles 
now.  Englishmen  told  me  with  pride  that  in  the  dark  days 
of  the  war,  when  American  audiences  were  indignant  at 
England,  Emerson  would  put  in  his  lectures  some  generous 
passage  concerning  this  country,  and  raising  himself  erect, 
pronounce  it  in  a  defiant  tone,  as  though  he  threw  the  words 
at  his  audience.  More  than  any  other  writer  Emerson 
gives  me  the  impression  of  one  who  sees  facts  alive  and 
knows  their  ways  and  who  writes  nothing  that  is  mean  or 
poor. 

One  morning  there  appeared  in  the  New  York  "  Tribune" 
the  following  paragraph: 

A  day  or  two  ago  there  met  in  State  Street,  Boston — on  the  spot 
where  the  famous  massacre  took  place — Mr.  Wendell  Phillips,  Mr. 
George  Jacob  Holyoake,  and  the  son  of  Mr.  John  Bright.  Mr.  Phil- 
lips, who  was  showing  Mr.  Holyoake  the  historic  spots  of  Boston,  had 
stopped  his  carriage  there,  when  Mr.  Bright  came  up  with  a  friend. 
On  being  introduced  to  Mr.  Phillips,  a  very  cordial  greeting  took 
place.  "  I  am  very  glad  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Bright,"  Mr.  Phillips  said, 
"  but  I  would  rather  meet  your  father."  «'  My  father  is  better  worth 
meeting,"  modestly  answered  Mr.  Bright.    "  I  wish  you  could  per- 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


75 


Ruade  your  father  to  visit  us,"  said  Mr.  Phillips.  **  I  am  afraid  he  docs 
not  like,  or  fears  the  sea,"  was  the  reply.  "  We  should  be  content  if 
he  would  come  and  make  us  just  one  speech,"  added  Mr.  Phillipii 
"  Ah,"  said  Mr.  Bright,  "  I  think  my  father  fears  that  more."  Mr. 
Bright  is  taller  than  his  illustrious  father,  but  has  his  massiveness 
and  force  of  carriage.  The  expression  of  his  features  is  that  of  his 
mother.  In  a  speech  he  made  a  year  ago  in  his  native  town,  he  dls* 
played  quite  his  father's  vigor  and  fire. 

Mr.  Phillips  asked  me  afterwards  who  wrote  the  para- 
graph, saying  he  did  not.  Mr.  Bright,  he  r.aid,  plainly  did 
not,  nor  did  his  friend.  I  answered  that  be  tig  a  s^  mgc/  in 
America,  Icould  not  be  expected  to  be  able  to  t1  i  >w  light 
upon  the  ways  of  their  native  journalism  so  bOon.  One 
thing  the  writer  might  have  added  whicii  si  ruck  me  at  me 
time.  I  observed  that  Mr.  Phillips  stood  with  his  hat  off 
all  the  time  of  the  conversation.  Not  Mr.  Evarts*  message 
to  Mr.  Bright  from  the  American  people,  gave  me  a  deeper 
sense  of  the  sincerity  of  the  regard  felt  foi  him,  than  this  fine 
act  of  courtesy  in  a  man  so  eminent  as  Mr.  Phillips,  a  man 
of  noble  presence  and  Roman  head  standing  uncovered  in  a 
public  square,  expressing  thereby  his  respect  for  young  Mr. 
Bright,  for  his  own  and  his  ^^ther's  sake.  The  man  and 
the  act  were  national. 

Parker  House,  Boston,  which  Dickens  thought  in  his  day 
the  most  comfortable  he  found  in  the  States,  is  frequented 
by  English  visitors  st  ill.  An  improved  "  elevator  "  put  up 
here,  was  talked  of  when  I  was  in  the  city,  and  I  wished  to 
try  it.  Luckily  I  was  absent  when  it  was  first  tested,  as  it 
came  down  with  some  adventurous  reporters  in  it,  who  were 
battered  and  bruised  as  much  as  Don  Quixote  and  Sancho 
Panza  were  on  the  night  on  which  they  slept  at  the  inn- 


■j6 


AMONG    THE    AMEUICA.NS. 


kceper*s,  after  the  affair  with  the  Vaiigusians.  Had  I  been 
in  the  Parker  House  that  day,  I  should  certainly  have 
shared  in  that  peremptory  tlcvscent. 

This  remintls  nie  that,  when  at  Kansas  City,  I  desired  to 
enter  a  sugar  bakery  there,  partly  to  see  it'  1  could  learn 
anything  to  the  advantage  of  the  co-operative  manager  of 
the  Crumpsall  Works  at  home,  and  partly  to  escape  from 
the  heat  of  the  sun,  the  ovens  of  the  bakery  being  cool 
compared  with  the  street  that  day.  However,  being  in- 
vited to  take  a  drive  through  a  suburban  road,  bearing  then, 
or  formerly,  the  pleasant  name  of  "Murderer's  Lane," 
where,  I  was  assured,  some  one  had  been  assassinated  at 
every  twenty-five  lyards,  I  went,  and  before  I  returned  next 
<lay  the  sugar  bakery  had  fallen  down,  burying  live  per- 
sons, including  visitors,  in  its  ruins. 

But  it  is  not  my  intention  to  relate  either  curious  escapes 
which  occur  to  all  wht)  travel,  nor  yet  the  adventures  into 
which  the  disability  of  blindness  ineviti.bly  leads.  They 
are  not  amusing — they  are  not  even  credible  to  those  who 
see.  So  little  are  men  sensible  of  the  blessing  of  sight — 
which  is  a  blessing  because  a  protection — that  they  have  an 
ignorant,  not  to  say  brutal,  incredulity  of  the  clangers  which 
pursue  the  unseeing.  Such  a  one,  crossing  a  street,  flees 
from  a  sound  of  wheels  far  off,  and  runs  under  noiseless 
wheels  near.  1  have  seen  Lord  Palmerston,  at  seventy-six, 
cheerily  evade  the  cabs  of  Palace-yard  where  a  youth  with 
dim  sight  had  surely  been  run  down.  You  go  in  a  cab  by 
night — a  collision  occurs.  He  who  can  sec,  opens  the  door 
and  leaps  out,  and  takes  another  when  the  one  he  was  in  is 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


77 


smashed  up,  while  he  who  cannot  sec  must  sit  there,  since 
the  clanger  of  moving  is  the  same  as  that  of  remaining. 

A  person  with  half-sight  takes  the  mist  or  the  shadow  in 
the  roadway  at  night  to  be  real  vehicles,  and  has  to  stand 
still  until  help  comes,  although  there  is  nothing  in  the  way. 
When  living  on  the  Marine  Parade  at  Brighton,  if  I 
returned  home  after  dark  I  would  creep  by  the  houses,  or 
railings,  or  walls,  until  I  arrived  at  the  terrace  where  I 
dwelt.  Only  a  narrow  roadway  lay  between  me  and  the 
door.  Listening  along  the  ground  to  be  sure  that  no  foot- 
steps or  wheel  was  in  motion,  1  would  dart  across  the  road. 
Immediately  a  cab  was  upon  me;  it  seemed  as  though  it 
started  from  the  ground.  The  fact  was,  the  cabmen  were 
lying  still,  and  seeing  me  suddenly  in  the  road,  moved  for- 
ward, believing  I  wanted  one.  Thus  the  most  commonplace 
incident  to  those  who  can  see,  becomes  a  terror  to  those  who 
cannot.  When  I  count  my  beads  I  never  forget  a  prayer 
for  tlie  wise  oculist  who  saves  lives  by  his  skill.  In  Amcripa 
and  in  Canada,  I  had  watchful  friends  near  me  to  whom  I 
owed  my  safety.  Of  what  occurred  at  oLher  times  I  relate 
no  more,  as  it  could  only  interest  the  few  who  are  exposed 
to.  like  peril.  Only  one  thing  I  shall  say,  that  the  blindness 
has  taught  me,  as  nothing  else  ever  did,  how  much  we  are 
under  the  dominion  of  the  senses  where  we  least  expect  it. 
To  this  hour  I  cannot  believe  in  the  dark  that  any  persons 
can  see  me,  because  I  cannot  perceive  them.  Though  my 
reason  tells  me  the  contrary,  I  cannot  shake  off  the  im- 
pression. 

I  know  a  statesman  who  incurred  years  of  dislike  and 
contempt  from  persons  who  had  served  him,  and  whom  he 


78 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


passed  on  public  occasions  as  though  he  disowned  them.  I 
shared  the  feeling  of  dislike  myself.  I,  years  afterwards, 
discovered  that  he  was  simply  near-sighted,  and  never  saw 
those  whom  he  was  thought  to  shun.  Alas!  what  friend- 
ships are  severed  by  mere  misconception  or  ignorance  as  to 
the  conditions  under  which  others  live  and  move  and  have 
their  being.  On  the  other  hand,  I  never  felt  myself  so  deep 
a  sense  of  the  kindness  of  unknown  people  in  every  condi- 
tion of  life  as  when  I  found  that  I  never  made  an  appeal  in 
any  land  to  a  gentleman  or  lady,  to  crossing- sweeper  or  cab- 
man, to  boy  or  girl,  to  thief  or  harlot,  or  any  one  I  took  to 
be  a  ruffian,  to  take  me  across  a  thoroughfare  in  the  dark 
who  did  not  do  i^  in  the  promptest  and  kindest  manner. 

The  Mayor  of  Boston,  with  what  I  thought  very  great 
courtesy,  volunteered  to  give  me  a  day  to  drive  me  about 
the  city,  when  I  should  have  seen  many  places  which  I  hops 
at  another  time  to  visit;  but  the  men  who  make  the  value 
of  Boston  interested  me  mainly  then. 

One  day  Mr,  Phillips  took  me  to  see  General  Butler — 
who  appeared  to  me  to  reside  everywhere — who  had  a  great 
deal  to  tell  relating  to  the  industrial  relations  of  the  people. 
The  burly  and  animated  General,  of  wayward  reputation, 
took  his  seat  upon  a  stool  in  his  office,  and  told  me  things 
of  great  interest  for  the  space  of  an  hour.  On  leaving,  a 
friend  asked  me  "  what  I  said  to  General  Butler."  I  an- 
swered, "  You  ought  to  ask  me  what  he  said  to  me;  I  never 
had  the  opportunity  of  saying  a  word/'  The  person  to 
whom  I  spoke  laughed,  as  though  he  thought  he  ought  to 
have  foreseen  that. 


AMONG    THE   AMERICANS. 


79 


I  had  a  desire  to  see  Dr.  O.  Wendell  Holmes,  who  has 
delighted  us  so  long  in  England  by  his  charming  stories. 
Besides  being  a  physician,  he  is  a  man  of  genius  and 
vivacity.  On  attaining  his  seventieth  year  a  dinner  of  con- 
gratulation was  given  him  at  Boston.  He  made  his  ac- 
knowledgments in  a  series  of  verses,  which  proved  to  be  a 
new  and  graceful  version  of  "  Pity  the  Sorrows  of  a  Poor 
Old  Man."  Of  course  the  verses  had  touc'  :s  of  tenderness 
and  fancy,  which  are  never  absent  from  Dr.  Holmes'  poetry. 

All  his  resources  of  physiological  knowledge,  as  a  physi- 
cian, were  brought  into  requisition  in  describing  the  tremors, 
discomforts,  and  bending  feebleness  of  threescore  years  and 
wen.  Admirers  of  Dr.  Holmes  in  England,  know  with  what 
agitation  and  sympnrhy  they  read  of  what  they  must  have 
thought  the  last  appearance  in  this  world  of  the  pathetic  and 
venerable  poet.  Being  with  a  friend  who  met  Dr.  Holmes 
in  the  street,  I  put  an  anxious  question  to  him  as  to  the 
appearance  and  condition  of  that  sorrowful  songster,  when 
the  welcome  assurance  was  given  that  he  was  perfectly 
upright,  and  as  lithe  and  active  a  gentleman  as  one  would 
wish  to  meet ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  "  Autocrat  of 
the  Breakfast  Table "  will  be  found  diffusing  wisdom  and 
laughter  from  his  morning  chair  for  many  years  to  come. 
The  doctor's  seventieth  birthday  verses  certainly  show  that 
the  spirit  of  poesy  is  as  strong  in  him  as  ever,  and  that  the 
description  of  his  own  feebleness  was  a  part  of  his  art, 
employed  to  heighten  the  sentiment  of  his  verse,  and  as  a 
contrast  between  his  burthen  of  pitiful  words,  and  his  own 
radiancy  of  health  and  song.  It  is  true  that  the  people  of 
America  do  not,  as  a  rule,  live  as  long  as  people  in  England, 


8o 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


r  i 


but  that  is  owing  to  causes  quite  within  their  control.   They 
have  pursuits  which  interest  them  more  than  longevity. 

Among  the  pleasant  Sundays  lii  Boston  was  one  I  spent 
with  Colonel  T.  W.  Higginson,  who  took  me  to  the  house 
of  a  lady  at  Cambridge,  where  a  large  number  of  guests 
assembled  to  hear  the  hostess  read  a  paper  on  "  An  Ancient 
French  Poet."  I  never  understood  till  then  what  I  had 
heard  Mr.  Moncure  Conway  say,  that  Colonel  Higginson, 
besides  being  a  man  of  letters,  excelled  as  an  interpreter  of 
an  assembly.  At  intervals,  when  deference,  or  delicacy,  or 
inaptness  of  thought,  caused  vacuity  in  the  criticisms  of 
those  present,  he  spoke  as  though  the  occasion  was  created 
for  him.  I  thought  of  what  he  says  of  his  hero  in  his  novel 
of"  Malbone":  "  Manhood  is  never  commonplace,  and  he 
was  a  person  to  whom  one  could  anchor.  When  he  came 
into  the  room,  you  felt  as  if  a  good  many  people  had  been 
added  to  the  company." 

In  Boston  I  met  the  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy,  whose  name  we 
are  now  familiar  with  in  England  as  that  of  a  real  advocate 
of  co-operation,  and  under  whose  influence  a  co-operative 
store  has  been  established  in  Boston.  While  I  was  there  a 
statue  of  his  father  was  erected  before  the  State  House  in 
the  city — the  Quincys  being  a  family  of  historic  celebrity  in 
those  parts.  A  meeting  being  held  of  a  great  building  so- 
ciety on  the  Philadelphian  plan,  which  Mr.  Quincy  had  in- 
troduced into  Boston,  he  being  chairman,  asked  me  to  speak 
to  the  assembly  on  co-operation.  It  was  my  firat  speech  on 
the  subject  in  America.  The  place  was  the  Stacy  Hall. 
The  platform  was  the  one  from  which  Lloyd  Garrison  had 
been  dragged  to  be  hanged,  in  the  evil  anti-slavery  days. 


II       I'-.i' 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


8l 


The  door  is  built  up  now  through  which  he  was  taken,  but 
I  could  see  it  from  the  platform  where  I  stood.  To  save 
Garrison,  the  Mayor  ordered  him  to  be  taken  to  jail,  and 
Mr.  Quincy,  being  on  the  spot  in  his  carriage,  took  Garri- 
son into  it  and  conveyed  him  to  prison.  Garrison's  clothes 
were  nearly  torn  from  his  body,  and  the  rope  was  put 
around  his  neck  ready  to  hang  him.  In  stature  and  features 
Mr.  Quincy  resembles  very  much  George  Thompson,  the 
English  anti-slavery  advocate,  whom  we  all  knew. 

Afterwards,  I  delivered  my  first  American  lecture  on  co- 
operation in  that  room.  Nobody  asked  me :  it  was  done  of 
my  own  wilfulness.  If  the  story  of  co-operation  was  to  be 
told  in  America  for  the  first  time  by  an  Englishman,  who 
was  at  the  beginning  of  it,  I  preferred  telling  it  in  Stacy 
Hall.  When  I  saw  some  persons  present,  besides  Mr. 
Quincy,  who  presided,  I  was  astonished,  and  by  that  time  I 
understood  the  rage  and  enthusiasm  of  the  old  slave 
owners,  who  climbed  up  those  narrow  and  never-ending 
stairs  in  search  of  Mr.  Garrison.  Had  I  been  he,  I  should 
have  thought  myself  perfectly  safe  at  that  inaccessible  ele- 
vation. 

It  will  be  long  before  I  forget  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
Mrs.  Theodore  Parker,  the  wife  of  the  great  preacher.  I 
had  not  before  met  in  America  so  bright  and  gentle  a  lady. 
She  showed  me  her  husband's  study,  with  everything  as  he 
last  sat  in  it  and  the  last  entry  he  made  in  his  diary  in  Flor- 
ence, where  he  died.  From  his  writing-room  window,  in 
the  iiouse  where  iie  lived  when  he  preached  his  famous  ser- 
mons,  he  could  see  the  room  where  Lloyd  Garrison  set  up 
his  anti-slavery  press.     The  room  where — 


82 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


Unfriended  and  unseen  ^ 

Toiled  o'er  his  types  a  poor  unlearned  young  man; 

The  place  was  dark,  unfurnitured  and  mean. 
Yet  there  the  freedom  of  a  race  began. 

After  Theodore  Parker's  death  his  biographer  found  let- 
ters of  mine  addressed  to  him  some  years  before  the  slave 
war  broke  out,  in  which  I  had  apologized  to  him  for  having 
objected  to  the  vehemence  of  his  language  against  slave- 
holders, as  I  knew  that  he  intended  war.  As  Mr.  Parker 
was  not  known  to  entertain  at  that  time  the  idea  of  war,  his 
biographer  wished  to  see  what  reply  he  made  to  me.  He 
had  not  written  to  me  that  such  was  his  intention.  The 
language  he  employed  I  foresaw  must  lead  to  war.  I  con- 
cluded that  he  intended  it,  and  on  that  ground  regarded  his 
language  as  consistent  with  that  end  and  no  longer  to  be 
questioned. 

The  Rev.  Francis  Ellingwood  Abbott,  the  editor  of  the 
"Index,"  interested  me  greatly.  He  displayed  great  ca" 
pacity,  and  a  Puritan  force  and  pride  in  the  integiity  of  the 
principles  he  represented.  I  know  no  one  in  England  who 
has  his  fine  enthusiasm  for  liberal  and  religious  progress. 
As  he  was  the  leader  in  a  contest  with  great  forces  opposed 
to  him,  I  knew,  through  him,  other  persons  whose  conver- 
sation gave  me  the  impression  that  higher  thought  and  ac- 
tion are  still  characteristics  of  Boston. 

In  that  insurgent  city  I  met  the  most  animated  little  clergy- 
man I  ever  knew,  the  Rev.  Photius  Fisk,  formerly  a  chap- 
lain in  the  American  navy,  and  a  generous  friend  of  slaves, 
who  puts  up  monuments  to  those  who  suffered  for  them. 
One  was  to  Captain  Jonathan  Walker,  of  the  Branded 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


83 


Hand.  He  had  helped  some  slaves  to  escape.  Heavy 
chains  were  riveted  upon  him,  his  cell  was  without  bed  or 
table :  a  slave  had  cut  his  throat  to  avoid  a  worse  death,  and 
Captain  Walker  had  to  sleep  on  the  bloody  floor.  His  sen- 
tence was  twelve  months'  imprisonment  for  each  of  the 
seven  slaves  he  had  tried  to  free.  His  hands  were  branded 
with  a  double  S,  made  red  hot.  One  blacksmith  refused  to 
make  it;  another,  who  made  it,  refused  his  forge  to  heat  it. 
In  Missouri  three  men  were  sentenced  to  twelve  years'  im- 
prisonment each  for  the  same  offences.  Photius  Fisk  was  a 
brave  chaplaiif,  who  would  bury  them  when  none  others 
would  and  put  up  monuments  to  their  memories.  I  never 
knew  what  paternal  slavery  was  so  vividly  as  when  I  heard 
him  describe  it.  The  Rev.  Charles  Tory,  a  Congregational 
minister,  died  in  his  cell  in  the  same  cause.  His  beautiful 
wife  prayed  that  he  might  be  liberated  to  die.  His  dead 
body  was  sent  to  her. 

Salem,  where  they  hanged  the  witches,  is  not  far  from 
Boston,  and  is  the  prettiest  town  of  verdure  and  water 
which  superstition  ever  made  terrible.  Dr.  Oliver  took  me 
down  to  see  his  father.  General  Oliver,  who  was  Mayor  of 
Salem,  and  who  showed  me  the  witch  houses,  in  which  the 
rooms  are  still  unchanged,  where  the  poor  creatures  were 
brought  in  for  trial.  There  is  preserved  in  Salem  the  first 
church  built  by  Puritans.  It  is  a  small  wooden  structure, 
which  might  hold  one  hundred  people,  it  has  a  gallery 
without  any  entrance  or  staircase  to  it.  How  the  active 
Puritan  Fathers  climbed  into  it  does  not  appear.  Tlic 
mount  where  they  hanged  the  poor  witches  is  being  encir- 
cled now  with  streets  and  houses;  but  the  spot  itself  should 


84 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


be  preserved  as  atonement  ground.  It  is  impossible  to  con- 
ceive that  any  human  being  could  sleep  on  that  melancholy 
mound. 

General  R.  K.  Oliver  was  a  name  I  had  known  in  Eng- 
land in  connection  with  questions  of  international  industry. 
The  social  wisdom  of  his  conversation,  now  that  I  had  the 
pleasure  to  be  his  guest,  impressed  me  very  distinctly.  He 
explained  to  me  that  when  he  had  charge  of  the  Bureau  of 
Labor  of  Massachusetts,  he  counselled  workmen  to  provide 
themselves  with  competence  in  declining  years,  defining 
"  competence "  as  that  sum  which,  if  invested  in  days  of 
health  and  work,'  would  procure  an  income  at  a  given  age, 
equal  to  their  average  income,  and  sufficient  to  maintain 
them  in  the  station  in  which  they  have  moved.  Ti»Is  is 
what  I  mean  by  wise  talk — conversation  which  moves 
steadily  to  new  issues,  and  in  which  material  terms  are  ren- 
dered definite.  "  Competence  "  is  a  term  on  many  tongues. 
General  Oliver  was  the  first  person  whom  I  heard  define  it 
as  he  used  it. 

Two  letters  which  I  addressed  to  the  public  papers  in 
Boston  I  venture  to  cite,  because  the  misconception  which 
could  arise  in  so  intelligent  a  city  may  arise  elsewhere.  One 
was  upon  the  "  Rights  of  Minorities  and  the  limits  of  Tol- 
eration."    It  appeared  in  the  Boston  "  Herald  "  as  follows : 

In  the  report  you  did  me  the  honor  to  make  of  my  address  at  the 
Parker  Memorial,  on  Sunday  last,  occur  the  words  "  Lord  John  Rus- 
sell has  declared  that  the  minority  has  no  rights."  No  doubt  the 
fault  was  my  own,  not  speaking  distinctly  at  that  point.  What  I 
intended  to  convey  was  a  meaning  the  very  opposite  of  this.  I  said 
we  were  all  grateful  to  Lord  John  for  being  the  first  nobleman  of 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


influence  to  maintain  tliat  the  minority  iiad  riglits.  Earl  Russell 
well  knew  that  I  was  one  who  did  liim  honor  for  his  action  in  this 
matter,  and  I  would  not  like  that  Lady  Russell,  who  takes  interei-t  in 
public  affairs  as  her  illustrious  husband  did,  sliould  read  those  words 
and  suppose  that  I  had  forgotten  the  obligations  we  were  all  under  to 
Earl  Russell  in  this  matter — obligations  which  I  had  personally 
acknowledged  during  his  lifetime.  I  see  it  stated  in  your  journal  that 
"  Mr.  Ilolyoake  would  have  obscene  books  treated  with  contemptuous 
toleration."  On  the  contrary,  I  maintained  the  right  and  duty  of  the 
.State  to  suppress  them,  whereas  (as  respects  books  of  opinion,  occupy- 
ing the  borderland  between  science  and  repulsiveness,  which  the 
imbecility  of  their  authors  has  so  confused  that  an  equal  fanaticism 
grows  up  to  suppress  them  and  maintain  them),  the  Lord  Chief 
Justice  of  England  lately  declared  that  such  publications  were  best 
left  alone,  as  prosecution  increased  their  noisomeness.  I  defined  as 
contemptuous  toleration,  non-interference  with  these  polecat  opinions, 
which  was  justifiable  only  as  the  lesser  of  the  two  evils.  For  myself 
I  regard  the  authors  of  these  questionable  books,  whatever  may  be 
their  intentions,  as  the  traitors  of  free  thought,  who  obscure  what 
should  be  kept  jealously  clear  —  the  line  of  demarcation  between 
liberty  and  license. 

The  other  letter  was  upon  "  Useful  and  Useless  Truth." 
It  appeared  in  the  Boston  "  Transcript,"  saying : 

In  the  comment  you  made  upon  an  expression  I  am  supposed  to 
have  used  in  my  address  at  the  Parker  Memorial,  on  Sunday,  you 
express  wonder  at  its  purport.  I  do  not  wonder  that  you  wonder  at 
it.  You  regard  me  as  saying  that  one  of  the  nuisances  of  the  plat- 
form was  a  man  who  spoke  from  belief  in  the  truth  of  what  he  was 
saying.  Of  course  a  man  ought  to  have  belief  in  the  truth  of  what 
he  says.  What  I  pointed  out  was  that  he  ought  to  have  more.  He 
ought  to  have  knowledge  of  the  truth;  what  he  speaks  ought  to  be 
well  ascertained  truth — vital  truth — relevant  truth.  It  ought  to  be  as 
Grote  used  to  express  it — "reasoned  tiuth."     There  is  important 


86 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


truth  and  unimportant  truth ;  there  is  wise  truth  and  silly  truth ;  there 
is  truth  relevant  to  the  question  at  issue,  and  a  foolish  truth  relative 
to  nothing.  What  I  said  was,  that  persons  were  nuisances  of  the 
platform  who  did  not  know  this,  and  who  thought  that  their  honest 
but  crude  impression  of  truth  was  a  sufficient  justification  of  public 
speech. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


CITY   OF    HOLYOKE — DISCOURSES. 


MY  visiting  the  City  of  Holyoke  was  quite  accidental. 
I  was  unaware  there  was  a  city  of  that  name  till  I 
rode  through  it  on  my  way  to  Florence  with  my  friend  Mr. 
Seth  Hunt,  the  treasurer  of  the  Connecticut  City  Railroad, 
whose  offices  in  Springfield  were  in  the  building  in  which 
John  Brown  was  in  business,  some  years  before  the  affair  at 
Harper's  Ferry  for  which  he  was  hanged.  Springfield  is 
as  pretty  as  its  name.  There  was  a  company  in  the  city 
which  proposed  to  supply  all  the  houses  with  heat — to  lay 
on  warm  air  just  as  we  lay  on  gas  and  water  in  Great  Brit- 
ain. I  sent  word  to  them  to  corne  over  and  warm  Eng- 
land. They  would  establish  depots  of  warm  air  in  Bir- 
mingham, or  other  midland  towns  in  our  country,  and  make 
all  our  cities  comfortable  "for  a  consideration.  They  have 
perfected  the  art  of  house  comfort  in  America  to  a  degree 
to  which  we  are  strangers.  They  not  only  warm  the  rail- 
way cars  in  America,  they  warm  the  railway  depots.  In 
Philadelphia  I  found  a  great  railway  hall,  where  hundreds 
of  people  could  wait  for  cars,  warm  in  every  part,  even 
when  the  great  doors  were  open.  At  a  junction  station  in 
Canada,  where  I  arrived  once  at  midnight,  every  room  I 


S8 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


■     1 


I 


i     .1 


!    I  1 


entered  was  warm.  All  about  it  people  could  he  down  and 
sleep  in  comfort.  On  returning  to  England  I  experienced 
more  discomfort  from  cold  in  a  midday  journey  from  Liver- 
pool to  London,  than  I  encountered  day  or  night  in  the  re- 
motest parts  I  wandered  into  in  America  and  Canada,  dur- 
ing months  of  travel. 

llolyoke  stands  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut  River. 
It  is  a  young  city,  which  grows  faster  than  Jonah's  gourd. 
My  invitation  to  deliver  the  first  lecture  on  co-operation  in 
it  came  from  some  citizens;  but  the  arrangements  were 
finally  made  by  countrymen  of  my  own,  Mr.  Goodenougli 
and  others;  but  the  mayor,  who  is  owner  of  the  theatre,  as- 
sured me  he  would  have  given  it  free  for  the  lecture  had  it 
not  been  engaged  that  night. 

The  city  stands  in  sight  of  Mount  Holyoke,  which  over- 
looks the  splendid  and  fertile  valleys  through  which  the 
silver  snake-like  river  winds  400  miles.  The  early  Puritans 
who  had  the  sagacity  to  settle  there,  had  like  the  old  monks 
at  home,  a  fine  eye  for  settlements  of  profitable  beauty. 
Moses  saw  not  a  finer  sight  from  Pisgar,  than  Elizur  Hol- 
yoke from  the  mount  from  which  he  looked. 

Being  told  that  probably  the  town  was  named  after  some 
ancestor  of  mine  I  said  if  that  was  so  I  should  be  glad  to 
collect  the  rents,  as  I  had  never  been  that  way  before.  The 
variation  in  our  names  I  said  might  be  accounted  for.  The 
early  settler,  whose  name  the  mountain  and  town  bear, 
probably  lost  the  "  a  "  out  of  his  name  in  the  long  voyage 
over  the  Atlantic  in  those  days,  or  had  it  shot  by  the  Indi- 
ans when  he  arrived.  My  branch  of  the  family  was  plainly 
Druidical,  as  the  name  implies,  and  as  the  pedigree  might 


AMONG   THE    AMEUICANS. 


89 


show — had  it  been  preserved.  The  American  branch  may 
have  been  phonetic  in  taste,  and  have  eliminated  the  "a"  on 
principle.  Edwavd,  the  son  of  Elizur  Holyokc,  became 
president  of  the  Harvard  University.  He  was  born  in  1689, 
and  died  in  1769,  living  eijjhty  years. 

His  son,  Dr.  Edward  Augustus  Holyokc,  who  was  born 
in  173S,  lived  until  1829.  He  began  to  practice  medicine  at 
Salcni  in  1749,  continuing  in  that  profession  more  than 
seventy  years.  He  was  an  acute  and  learned  physician  and 
a  good  surgeon.  He  performed  a  surgical  operation  at  the 
age  of  ninety-two.  Even  after  he  had  attained  his  hun- 
dredth year,  he  was  interested  in  the  investigation  of  medi- 
cal subjects,  and  wrote  letters  which  show  that  his  under- 
standing was  still  clear  and  strong.  On  his  hundredth  birth- 
day  about  fifty  of  his  medical  brethren  of  Boston  and  Salem 
gave  him  a  public  dinner,  when  he  appeared  at  the  table 
with  a  firm  step,  smoked  his  pipe,  and  proposed  a  charac- 
teristic toast  to  the  assembly.  It  is  clear  that  the  climate 
did  not  kill  these  early  settlers  prematurely  in  those  days,  or 
it  was  not  so  vicious  then  as  it  is  supposed  to  be  now. 

In  the  old  church  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Holyoke  one  of 
the  regicides  of  Charles  the  First's  time  was  buried.  He 
was  sheltered  by  the  clergyman,  an  old  college  friend  of  his 
in  England.  He  remained  concealed  in  the  rectory.  The 
country  being  then  held  by  the  English,  it  was  unsafe  for 
him  to  go  abroad,  and  his  existence  was  unknown  in  the 
village.  One  day,  when  everybody  was  at  church,  the  old 
military  King-killer,  looking  out  from  his  eyrie,  espied  In- 
dians advancing  at  some  distant  point,  with  a  view  to  attack 
the  settlement.     He  seized  his  sword,  ran  down,  mounted  a 


r^ 


4 
I 


90 


AMONG    TlIU   AMItUtCANS. 


horse,  rode  rijjht  away  to  the  church,  rushe<l  in,  and  an- 
nounced to  the  conj^rejjfation  their  dajj|jfer.  Worshi|)pcrs  in 
those  days  went  armed  to  cinnc...  The  old  hero  remounted 
his  horse  and  inarsiialled  (he  )>lan  of  defence  not  a  moment 
too  so>.  n,  for  the  Inihans  were  ujmmi  them.  Ilis  wlute  hair 
and  hea'd  streaming  in  the  wind,  he  fouj;IU  in  the  front. 
The  moment  vieti>ry  was  seeureil  h(;  rode  straight  away — 
only  the  clerj^yn^an  knew  where.  As  he  hail  never  heen 
seen  hefore,  antl  was  never  seen  afterwards,  the  honest  wor- 
shippers deemed  him  a  pu>phet  sent  hy  the  Lord  for  their 
deliverance.  There  are  many  «ijtuHl  miracles  of  earlier  days 
not  so  well  attested  as  this.  I  relate  the  tradition  as  I  heard 
it  on  the  hanks  of  the  Connecticut  River. 

The  tnst  time  I  spoke  to  a  congre«»ation  was  at  the  Free 
Churcli,  Florence,  Massachusetts.  It  was  delivered  in  the 
Cosmian  Mali,  a  pretty  name  coined  out  of  the  word 
Cosmos.  The  student  of  the  oriler  of  nature  in  En<;land 
would  be  called  a  Cosmist — Cosmian  is  a  much  more 
euphonious  derivation.  The  hall  is  very  lary^e,  and  the 
most  imposin»»'  in  the  city.  It  stands  on  a  plain  at  the  lower 
end  of  Florence.  The  Cosmian  Hall  having  bells,  and  the 
Wesleyan  Chapel  i\ot  having  any,  the  Cosmian  bells  ring 
for  the  Wesleyan  worshippers.  I  was  asked  in  the  morning 
to  meet  the  teachers  of  the  Sunday  School,  and  make  a  lit- 
tle speech  to  them.  At\ervvards  I  wa.;  asked  to  attend  the 
Sunday  Schools  and  make  another  speech  to  the  pupils. 
This  constantly  occurred  to  me  in  other  churches;  the  ob- 
ject was  to  enable  the  children  tr  hear  and  see  the  stranger 
who  had  come  amongst  them.  In  the  afternoon,  I  addressed 
a  congregation  in  the  large  and  handsome  hall  devoted  to 


AMONG   THE   AMEItlCANS. 


9" 


that  purpose.  At  night,  I  met  for  the  fourth  time  an  as- 
sembly which  was  considered  a  reception,  in  one  of  the 
rooms  of  the  hall  where,  for  two  hours,  we  talked  over  the 
practical  and  ethical  side  of  co-operation,  about  which  many 
intelligent  inquiries  were  made. 

Americans  are  merciful  critics.  They  judge  that  a 
stranger  does  not  know  all  at  once  where  he  is,  in  that  spa- 
cious and  unaccustomed  country,  and  pardon  unattached 
itleas  in  his  speech.  My  eyes  and  my  mind  alike  wandered  in 
my  speeches  that  day.  Mr.  Charlton  had  come  down  more 
than  I, GOO  miles  to  meet  me  at  Springfield,  to  hear  me  lec- 
uire,  as  he  said,  once  again.  Notice  of  his  arrival  lay  at  a 
depot,  which  was  not  communicated  to  me  until  I  had  left 
for  Florence,  where,  however,  he  would  also  come.  Every 
knock  at  Mr.  JlilPs  door  (the  house  of  my  host)  I  went  out 
to  answer;  on  every  tramcar  stopping  before  it  I  listened  for 
the  creaking  of  the  gate;  every  carriage  driving  to  the  Cos- 
mian  Hall  on  Sunday  reawakened  my  expectation;  every 
tall  stranger  who  entered  the  church  while  I  was  speaking 
attracted  my  attention.  It  was  thirty  years  since  we  had 
met,  and  I  knew  not  into  what  form  and  appearance 
America  had  converted  my  former  Tyneside  friend  in  that 
time.  After  arriving  at  Springfield  he  was  summoned  to  a 
railway  convention  at  Chicago,  which  I  could  not  know.  It 
was  some  weeks  later,  and  hundreds  of  miles  away,  before 
we  met.  One  night  I  was  feeling  my  way  in  alarm  amid 
walls  of  railway  carriages  at  Rochester,  neither  knowing 
where  I  was  going  nor  how  to  return,  when  a  lofty  figure 
accosted  me  in  tones  which  I  knew  again.  A  confluence  of 
trains  had  arrived  that  hour,  and  my  friend  had  had  my 


'  i 


92 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


name  proclaimed  in  each,  but  as  no  such  creature  had  ever 
been  heard  of  in  those  parts,  no  response  could  be  had,  un- 
til I  was  discovered  in  the  railway  ravine  through  which 
the  last  passengers  must  pass. 

The  verdant  gaiety  of  Florence  still  lingers  in  my 
memory  no  less  than  the  hospitality  accorded  me  there. 
The  negligence  of  scenery  in  the  city  charmed  me.  In 
England  Nature  has  its  hair  in  curl  papers.  In  America 
its  locks  wave  wild.  It  was,  I  believe,  in  Florence  where 
I  first  entered  an  American  school  house.  It  had  broad 
floors  and  bay  windows,  from  which  the  children  could  see 
the  beauty  of  the  scenery  around  them.  The  teachers  to 
whom  I  spoke  expressed  astonishment  at  hearing  that  in 
England  we  built  dead  walls  round  our  gardens  lest  the 
passers  by  should  see  the  verdure,  and  built  them  round 
even  little  children's  schools  lest  they  should  see  from  their 
playground  a  flower-girl  pass,  or  a  green  thing  on  a  market 
gardener's  barrow. 

I  visited  Mr.  Seth  Hunt  at  his  house,  where  he  entertained 
George  Thompson  under  shadow  of  the  Holyoke  Moun- 
tains, in  the  evil  days  of  the  anti-slavery  cause  when  his  life 
was  in  peril.  It  was  not  far  from  Mr.  Hunt's  house  to 
where  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Edwards  dwelt.  In  a  spot  of 
wondrous  calmness  and  beauty  in  those  dav'j,  with  v/ood, 
river,  and  mountain  before  him,  he  fabricate!  the  iron-bound 
doctrines  which  have  cast  a  halo  of  horror  round  his  name, 
and  makes  the  stranger  tread  the  streets  for  the  first  tim o 
with  terror. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Haynes  of  Providence  invited  me  to  speak 
in  his  church.    My  subject  there  was  "  Unregarded  Aspects 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


93 


of  Human  Nature."  In  the  evening  there  met  at  the  house 
of  Mr.  Frost,  a  member  of  the  church,  whose  guest  I  was, 
a  considerable  number  of  the  congregation,  to  whom  I  was 
requested  to  explain  the  character  and  proceedings  of  our 
co-operative  societies. 

In  America,  they  seem  to  number  the  churches  as  they 
do  the  streets.  The  Memorial  Hall,  in  Boston,  where  I 
spoke  twice,  bore  the  name  of  the  2Sth  or  3Sth  Congrega- 
tional Church.  Some  Churches  are  called  Free  Churches, 
to  denote,  as  I  understood,  that  in  America,  even  Ch«rches, 
free  nowhere  else,  may  be  free  there.  In  Florence,  in  Bos- 
ton, in  Providence,  in  Chicago,  in  Cincinnati,  the  piety  of 
the  worshippers,  was  simple,  manly,  and  fearless.  They 
did  not,  as  we  do  in  England,  pay  any  attention  to  what 
people  thought  of  them.  There  was  a  sense  of  reverence, 
truth,  conscience,  and  duty.  They  thought  that  saints  were 
more  wholesome  when  clean,  more  acceptable  to  Heaven 
when  intelligent,  more  happy  for  being  free,  and  their  hopes 
hereafter  were  strong  in  proportion  to  their  efforts  to  pro- 
mote human  welfare  here.  In  no  instance  was  I  asked  what 
I  should  say.  At  no  time  was  any  condition  suggested  even 
as  to  the  form  of  ser,  ice  I  should  adopt.  They  did  me  the 
honor  to  believe  that  it  was  impossible  that  I  could  abuse 
their  trust  by  speaking  on  controversial  points,  while  the 
whole  field  of  secular  morality  lay  before  me,  upon  which, 
if  any  new  light  can  be  thrown,  it  is  the  interest  of  every 
Church  to  know  it.  The  singular  thing  was,  that  believing 
that  co-operation  had  some  moral  and  therefore  religious 
element  in  it,  they  were  wishful  to  hear  of  that. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WANDERING   IN   FIVE   GREAT   CITIES. 

AWAKENING  one  night  in  a  railway  car,  and  looking 
through  my  bed  window  and  thinking  the  scenery 
rather  stationary,  I  learned  that  we  were  on  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  and  that  the  train  had  got  off  ♦he  track.  As  I 
promised  at  home  not  to  take  this  route,  I  betook  myself  to 
sleep  again,  not  wishing  to  be  killed  awake  in  violation  of 
my  compact.  The  next  evening,  while  gazing  at  Harper's 
Ferry  in  the  moonlight,  which  had  great  iiiterest  for  me,  I 
heard  my  name  called  out  in  the  car,  which — since  I  had 
seen  no  one  for  nearly  two  days  that  I  knew — surprised  me. 
It  was  a  telegram  from  Colonel  Ingersoll,  apprising  me  I 
should  be  five  hours  late  at  Washington,  and  that  on  arriv- 
ing there  I  should  fin.i  his  car  iage  and  two  colored  servants 
at  the  station,  who  would  w.'»;':  until  I  came,  and  take  me  to 
his  house  in  Lafayette  Squin?.  How  he  should  find  out 
where  I  was,  and  how  la.'e  I  should  be,  which  I  did  not 
know  myself^  excited  my  curiosity  as  much  as  this  thought- 
fulness  gave  me  pleasure.  He  had  sent  me  a  letter  telling 
me  I  was  not  to  leave  America  until  I  had  seen  some  of  the 
famous  politicians  of  VVashington,  and  that  if  I  would  come 
and  stay  with  him,  he  and  Mrs.  Ingersoll  would  make  me 


wammsBimm 


i  ' 


t]  Pi  I 


i! 


«i 


At 


ill!     1 


*  ; 


96 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


"  real  happy,"  all  of  which  came  true.  It  was  midnight 
when  I  reached  Washington,  where  I  found  the  carriage 
and  the  pleasant  Ethiopian  attendants  of  whom  I  had  re- 
ceived information  five  hours  before. 

That  was  a  pleasant  day  when  I  went  down  the  sleepy 
Potomac  to  visit  Mount  Vernon,  the  former  home  of  Gen- 
eral Washington.  On  the  one  end  is  dreamy,  quiet  Mary- 
land; on  the  other  lies  the  rival  coast  of  bright  Virginia. 
Mount  Vernon  was  utterly  unlike  what  I  expected.  Near 
the  entrance  of  the  Washington  Estate  is  the  tomb  of  the 
great,  crownless  king.  Beyond,  is  a  modest,  picturesque 
country  house,  yf'ith  various  quaint  structures,  built  of  Eng- 
lish brick,  standing  on  an  elevated  plateau,  commanding 
many  views  of  the  winding  Potomac  and  open  views  of 
country.  The  cosy,  pleasant  rooms  where  the  General 
lived,  the  chamber  where  he  died,  the  chamber  where  Gen- 
eral Lafayette  slept,  remained  as  they  were  in  their  days. 
In  one  of  the  kitchens  where  the  repasts  were  cooked  for 
the  General's  guests  he  used  to  give  a  dinner  to  his  slaves 
on  Christmas  Day,  and  their  feasting  lasted  as  long  into  the 
night  as  their  log  fire  took  to  burn  out.  The  artful  slaves 
had  an  ingenious  device  for  prolonging  the  time  of  their 
entertainment.  They  provided  a  solid  chunk  of  wood  for 
the  Christmas  log,  and  put  it  to  soak  in  water  a  week  or 
two  before  the  festive  day,  so  that  it  took  unknown  hours 
to  burn  out,  during  which  time  they  were  their  own  mas- 
ters. No  doubt  they  kept  it  pretty  damp  when  it  gave 
signs  of  burning  out  too  soon.  At  the  death  of  the  General, 
Mrs.  Washington  went  into  the  uppermost  rooms  of  the 
house,  and  there  she  lived  until  her  death.     There  is  still 


't'^^yk& 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


97 


light 
riage 
d  re- 


the  aperture  in  the  lower  part  of  the  door  which  she  had 
cut  for  her  favorite  cats  to  pass  through.  The  custodian, 
who  showed  us  the  rooms,  said  he  was  sorry  he  could  not 
show  us  the  cats.  The  pleasantry  was  not  said  for  the  first 
time;  but  it  was  said  so  well,  and  so  freshly  spoken,  as  were 
all  the  descriptions  he  gave  us,  that  they  seemed  made  new 
for  the  occasion.  -' 

A  light,  well-built  gateway,  through  which  Washington 
used  to  drive  as  he  entered  his  farm,  needed  some  years  ago 
to  be  replaced,  and  a  few  boys  in  Wisconsin  collected  money 
for  the  purpose,  and  brought  it  all  the  wa}'  themselves. 
One  of  them,  I  remember,  was  named  Merrill.  They  ex- 
hibited the  greatest  delight  on  beholding  the  new  gateway, 
when  erected.  Their  names  ought  to  be  written  on  the 
lintel  in  honor  of  their  bright  and  auspicious  enthusiasm. 

Lineal  Americans  are  mostly  as  quick  as  four-eyed  people, 
and  seem  to  see  at  the  back  of  their  heads.  We  are  apt  to 
think  ourselves  railroad  driven,  they  regard  us  as  very  de- 
liberate in  business;  but  their  activity,  like  their  morals  and 
religions,  is  a  good  deal  geographical.  Washington  seems 
to  be  a  lotus  land.  I  went  into  one  of  the  coiffeur  rooms  of 
an  hotel  to  have  my  hair  cut.  It  was  growing  long,  and  I 
was  afraid  of  being  mistaken  for  a  poet,  which,  unless  you 
happen  to  be  the  real  thing,  leads  to  social  difficulties  at  edi- 
torial offices  which  it  is  always  my  custom  to  frequent.  The 
sun  was  shining  brightly  in  mid-afternoon  when  I  entered 
the  hair-dresser's  hall.  By  the  time  I  emerged,  the  shades 
of  evening  were  setting  in.  Delilah  was  not  half  so  long, 
in  her  wanton  treachery,  in  cutting  off  Sampson's  locks  as 
the  Washington  hair-cutter  was  in  shearing  mine.     In  New 


!i 


in 


f 


98 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


York  they  had  cut  my  head  off  in  less  time.  The  Wash- 
ington operator  seemed,  like  Gerard  Dhow  when  he  painted 
a  brush,  to  work  upon  a  single  hair  at  a  time.  Now  and 
then  he  went  away  to  drink  ice  water  to  refresh  his  minute 
energies.  When  at  length  I  returned  home,  Mrs.  IngersoU 
told  me  that  the  silk  mercers  sold  ribbons  at  the-  same  rate, 
and  that  it  sometimes  required  a  morning  to  buy  a  yard. 
All  this  is  very  pleasant  when  you  give  your  mind  to  it. 
Washington  is  the  lotus  land  of  business.  Shaving  cer- 
tainly is  a  fine  art  in  America,  I  wondered  lit  first  how  so 
rapid  a  people  contrived  to  lie  so  still  upon  the  barber's 
cushion  so  long  a  time,  in  the  Northern  hotels  where  I 
watched  them.  The  reason  I  discovered  to  be  that  Amer- 
ican shaving  is  as  pleasant  as  a  Turkish  bath. 

I  spent  time,  which  seemed  far  too  short,  with  the  Sover- 
eigns of  Industry.  At  the  request  of  their  district  council, 
made  at  the  suggestion  of  General  Mussey  and  Major  Ford, 
I  s^Doke  one  night  in  a  very  handsome  hall  upon  the  "  Eng- 
lish Features  of  Co-operation,"  and  mot  many  distinguished 
persons.  My  visit  to  the  White  House,  where  I  saw  the 
President,  Mrs.  Hayes,  and  General  Sherman,  I  have  related 
elsewhere.*  The  Museum  of  Patents,  of  Education,  and 
many  other  places  had  features  of  interest,  which  I  should 
describe  had  I  found  opportunity  of  making  myself  sure 
concerning  them.  Washington  is  full  of  wonders.  General 
Eaton,  who,  if  I  remember  rightly,  is  at  the  head  of  the 
museum,  showed  me  treasures  of  instruction.  I  thought 
that  if  he  was  at  South  Kensington  he  would  find  some 


*  In  the  "Nineteenth  Century." 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS, 


99 


means  of  recovering  those  earlier  relics  of  educational  appa- 
ratus which  lie  at  New  Lanark.  The  story  of  their  condi- 
tion, George  Eliot  told  me,  in  the  last  letter  she  wrote  to 
me,  had  to  her  mind  "  a  tragic  impressiveness." 

Mr.  George  W.  Child  (everybody  in  America  seems  to 
have  three  names;  the  first  and  last,  as  I  think  I  have  ob- 
served before,  are  always  put  in  full ;  the  second  is  repre- 
sented by  its  initial  letter  only)  I  saw  but  for  a  short  time, 
and  was  surprised  to  find  him  young  and  fresh  looking.  His 
chief  oflfice  in  .the  "  Ledger  '*  buildings  presented  features  of 
substantial  grace  and  of  European  art  which  refreshed  the 
eye  to  see.  What  was  to  me  proof  of  yet  nobler  taste  was 
that  lofty  ceilings,  spacious  rooms,  light,  air,  and  baths  were 
provided  for  the  work-people;  that  he  had  omitted  to  re- 
duce the  printers*  wages  when  their  own  union  had  sanc- 
tioned it.  Two  weeks'  vacation  are  allowed,  and  the  full 
wages  paid  in  advance,  and  a  liberal  present  of  money 
made  besides.  On  Christmas  Day,  also,  every  man,  woman, 
and  boy  receives  a  further  present.  Our  co-operative  stores 
and  manufacturing  societies  do  not  do  better  than  this. 
This  was  done  by  one  who,  as  a  Baltimore  boy  at  fourteen, 
got  himself  a  place  in  a  book  store,  beginning  life  in  that 
self-reliant  way.  It  is  rarely  that  workmen  who  have  be- 
come masters  themselves  treat  their  own  workmen  in  the 
spirit  of  gentlemen. 

When  Mr.  Child  bought  the  "Ledger"  of  Philadelphia 
he  excluded  from  its  columns  all  reports  which  could  not  be 
read  in  a  family,  or  that  poison  and  inflame  the  passions  of 
young  men,  and  all  scandal,  slang,  and  immoral  advertise- 
ments.    He  doubled  the  price  of  the  paper,  and  increased 


I'!   1 


lOO 


AMONG   THE   AMERTrA,NS. 


the  rates  of  lulvertisiiijj.  The  paper  was  at  ii  low  ebb  when 
he  took  It ;  it  sank  lower  now.  I  lis  friends  v/arned  iiim  that 
this  would  never  ilo;  that  popularity  meant  sensation ;  that 
eomnion  people  would  not  buy  common  sense,  nor  would 
advertisers  prefer  a  journal  of  pjood  taste.  Nevertheless, 
Mr.  Child  went  on.  He  en<:ja<;ed  good  writers,  paid  good 
wages,  and  made  a  great  paying  paper.  Pev^ple  in  Eng- 
land would  not  expect  this  could  be  done  in  America.  I 
know  nothing  in  journalism  more  honorable  than  Mr. 
Child's  sagacity  and  courage  herein,  or  to  the  good  sense  of 
the  people  of  Philadelphia  who  gave  their  support  to  this 
unwonted  and  unexpected  enterprise. 

In  that  city  the  co-operators  were  to  make  arrangements 
tor  my  lecture,  but  it  fell  to  my  unfailing  friends,  Mr. 
Worslcy  and  Mr.  T.  Stevenson  (both  formerly  of  England) 
to  do  it.  As  I  wished  to  go  to  Reading,  in  Pennsylvania, 
the  directors  of  the  railway  offered  me  a  special  engine  to 
take  me  there,  and  gave  me  introductions  in  Reading,  to 
secure  me  seeing  objects  of  interest.  I  said  I  intended  to 
stay  all  night,  my  object  being  to  be  present  at  one  of  Col. 
Ingersoll's  lectures  before  iny  return.  The  answer  was: 
"  The  engine  shall  stay  for  you  and  bring  you  back  next 
day."  If  I  could  recall  it,  I  should  mention  the  name  of  a 
Philadelphia  gentleman,  who,  quite  unknown  to  me  pre- 
viously, showed  nie  costly  courtesies,  who  appeared  to 
know  everybody,  who  introduced  me  to  the  Mayor,  and 
took  me  to  see  the  famous  halls  where  the  historic  relics  of 
American  liberty  are  deposited,  and  where  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  was  signed.  In  one  of  them  I  saw  an  oil 
painting  of  Thomas  Payne.     How^  it  came  there,  or  why  it 


AMONG   THK    AMERICANS. 


lOI 


remained  there,  nobody  knew.  It  was  more  intellectual 
than  Romncy's  portrait  of  him,  which  we  cherish  in  Eng- 
land, It  was  the  only  State  memorial  of  the  great  Eng- 
lishman I  saw  in  America. 

While  at  Pliiladelphia  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  Maple  Spring 
"Hotel  of  WissahicUon,  occupied  until  his  death  by  Joseph 
Smith,  the  "shccpmakt  described  in  my  "  History  of  Co- 
operation," and  who  died  a  few  days  after  having  had  read 
to  him  (to  his  great  satisfaction,  as  I  was  glad  to  learn)  my 
account  of  his  career  in  England.  Mrs.  Smith  and  her 
family  still  occupy  the  hotel.  It  was  midnight  when  I  en- 
tered it.  Though  anxious  to  see  his  museum  it  was  not  un- 
til next  morning  that  I  cared  to  do  it.  The  objects  in  it 
were  carved  by  his  own  hand,  out  of  laurel  roots,  which 
abound  on  the  banks  of  the  sparkling  Wissahickon,  before 
which  his  hotel  stands.  In  1839  I  saw  the  Social  Hall  he 
built  at  Salford,  which  showed  conventional  prettiness  in  the 
use  of  colored  glass,  and  I  believed  Mr.  Smith  had  no  orig- 
inality, except  that  of  humorous  audacity  on  the  platform. 

I  expected  to  find  his  museum  common-place  and  preten- 
tious. Whereas,  I  found  the  various  rooms  bearing  the  ai> 
pearance  of  a  forest  of  ingenuity,  which  a  day's  study 
would  not  exhaust.  There  was  nothing  tricky  about  it. 
Its  objects  were  as  unexpected  as  the  scenes  in  the  Garden  of 
Eden  must  have  been  to  Adam.  Noah's  ark  never  con- 
tained such  creatures.  Dore  never  produced  a  wandering 
Jew  so  weird  as  the  laurel  Hebrew  who  strode  through 
these  mimic  woods.  Scenes  from  the  Old  Testament, 
groups  of  American  orators,  statesmen,  and  railway  directors 
started  up  in  the  strange  underwood,  or  held  forth  in  the 


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IMAGE  EVALUATION 
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Sciences 

Corporation 


33  WIST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  USM 

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I02 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


branches  of  trees.  Dr.  Darwin  would  require  a  new  theory; 
of  evolution  to  account  for  the  wonderful  creatures — beasts, 
birds,  and  insects — which  confront  you  everywhere. 

An  American  Dante,  if  there  be  such  a  one,  might  find 
ample  material  for  a  new  poem  in  this  wooden  inferno. 
The  mind  of  man  never  conceived  such  grotesque  creatures 
before;  yet  this  was  the  work  of  an  old  agitator,  executed 
between  his  seventieth  and  eightieth  year,  with  no  material 
but  roots  of  trees,  with  no  instrument  but  his  pocket-knife 
and  a  pot  of  paint,  and  no  resource  but  his  marvellous  im- 
agination. There  were  snakes  that  would  fill  you  with  ter- 
ror; stump  orators  that  would  convulse  you  with  laughter. 
His  Satanic  Majesty  strode  on  horseback;  Mrs.  Beelzebub 
is  the  quaintest  old  lady  conceivable.  The  foreign  devils 
all  had  a  special  individuality.  There  was  the  Moham- 
medan devil,  the  Indian  devil  practicing  the  Grecian  bend, 
the  Russian  devil  eating  a  broiled  Turk,  the  Irish  devil 
bound  for  Donnybrook  fair,  the  French  devil  practicing  a 
polka,  the  Dutch  devil  calling  for  more  beer,  the  Chinese 
devil  delivering  a  Fourth  of  July  oration.  I  observed  no 
American  devil — let  us  hope  they  have  not  one.  Mr. 
Smith's  description  of  his  creations  endowed  every  creature 
with  living  attributes.  He  illustrated  his  favorite  doctrine 
of  man  being  the  creature  of  circumstances,  *by  saying  it 
was  coming  to  live  in  the  Schuylkill  County  which  first  de- 
veloped in  him  the  latent,  slumbering  organ  of  Rootology, 
The  Wissahickon  Museum  was  the  most  original  thing  I 
saw  in  America.  I  never  felt  so  much  the  value  of  a  man 
of  energy,  as  when  I  missed  his  animated  face  as  I  entered 
the  spacious  Hall  of  St.  George  to  speak,  and  saw  it  scarcely 


AMONG  THB   AMERICANS. 


103 


ig  it 
irst  de- 
ology. 
hing  I 
a  man 
ntered 
arcely 


half  full.  Had  he  been  living  he  would  have  had  it  crowded. 
He  had  the  contagious  enthusiasm  of  a  hundred  men  in  him. 
It  was  the  Hall  of  the  Sons  of  St.  George,  a  powerful  as- 
sociation, composed,  I  understand,  wholly  or  mainly  of  Eng- 
lishmen, hav'.ng  lodges  after  the  manner  of  the  Odd  Fel- 
lows. Their  hall  is  the  handsomest  I  spoke  in  in  America. 
A  fine,  full-length  painting  of  the  Queen  of  England  hangs 
in  the  centre  of  the  platform.  Philadelphia  is  enviable  for 
many  things,  and  especially  for  having  two  mighty  rivers 
running  through  it — the  Delaware  and  the  Schuylkill.  No 
wonder  they  extorted  from  the  Irishman  who  fii*st  saw  them 
the  exclamation — ^**  They  were  wonderful  rivers  for  so  young 
a  country." 

An  "open  letter"  was  addressed  to  me  in  a  Philadel- 
phian  paper  by  Mr.  Thomas  Stephenson,  characterized  by 
those  qualities  of  frankness  and  kindness  which  made  inter- 
esting his  communications  to  the  press  in  the  old  country. 
It  related  to  topics  upon  which  I  was  told  people  in  Phila- 
delphia would  like  to  hear  my  opinions.  In  my  answer 
published  in  "  The  Trades,"  I  said  "  I  regarded  advocacy  as 
an  art  by  which  truth  is  presented  with  clearness  and  fair- 
ness. Conciliation  simply  means  intellectual  justice  to  those 
who  differ  from  you,  and  this  should  be  observed  towards  all 
opponents,  whether  they  observe  it  towards  us  or  not.  As 
to  speaking  in  Philadelphia,  I  shall  only  have  time  to  treat 
of  co-operation.  My  rule  is  always  to  speak  on  what  I  un- 
dertake to  speak,  and  not  on  any  other  subject.  As  to  other 
opinions  of  mine,  I  am  too  dainty  and  too  proud  to  indulge 
any  one  with  a  word  upon  them  unless  it  is  desired  to  hear 


104 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


them.     I  am  not  a  hawker  of  opinions.     I  regard  new 
truth  as  a  treasure  to  be  displayed  only  as  a  privilege.'* 

When  my  letter  appeared  in  the  journal  to  which  it  was 
addressed,  I  was  amused  to  observe  that  it  was  two-thirds 
longer  than  when  I  wrote  it.  The  editor  had  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  I  had  made  it  short  from  want  of  time  on 
jny  travels,  and  had  kindly  enlarged  it  for  me.  It  no  doubt 
gave  the  readers  a  better  idea  of  my  versatility  and  origin- 
ality, for  it  contained  two  styles  and  two  kinds,  of  thought, 
and  dealt  with  topics  of  which  I  had  no  knowledge. 

Cincinnati  is  certainly  an  alluring  city.  Its  enterprising 
motto  is  "  L''audace  toujours  Vaudace^''  Let  us  hope  it  will 
have  the  audacity  to  get  rid  of  the  smoke,  which  is  accu- 
mulating in  it.  On  looking  down  upon  it  from  the  hills,  it 
reminded  me  of  Sheffield.  Away  out  of  the  town  there  is 
an  elevated  cemetery  of  surpassing  beauty,  a  perfect  park 
of  the  dead.  My  object  there  was  to  visit  the  grave  of  a 
young  man,  the  son  of  a  valued  friend  of  my  student  days 
in  Birmingham.  The  youth  had  won  real  friends  in  Cin- 
cinnati, who,  together  with  his  comrades,  had  put  up  a 
handsome  memorial  of  him.  A  railway  line  runs  through 
the  cemetery.  But  so  great  and  umbrageous  is  the  place 
that  the  railway  scarcely  mars  its  beauty.  My  lost  friend 
desired  his  grave  to  be  within  sound  of  the  passing  car- 
riages, which,  with  a  touch  of  Pagan  poetry,  he  associated 
with  the  return  journey  home,  of  which  he  thought  he 
should  be  conscious  as  he  slept.  I  went  also  to  a  grave  in 
Hamilton,  Canada,  with  Mr.  Charlton,  to  lay  flowers  on  the 
last  resting  place  of  his  daughter;  and  was  surprised  to  find 
there  also  that  the  grave  plot  purchased  by  a  family  was 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


105 


large,  like  the  field  of  Machpelah,  purchased  by  Abraham. 

In  Cincinnati,  I  had  the  pleasure  to  meet  with  the  family 
of  my  old  friend  and  coadjutor  in  London,  Mr.  Robert 
Leblond.  One  morning  I  went  to  hear  the  Rev.  Charles 
W.  Wendte,  the  Unitarian  minister,  a  man  of  fine  parts  and 
devotional  inspiration.  It  was  the  harvest  festival  of  the 
church.  All  around  the  altar  was  a  splendid  afiluence  of 
the  rich  fruits  of  the  season,  some  of  which  were  given  to 
me.  The  discourse  was  upon  the  cheerful  character  of 
Jewish  festivals,  which  I  knew  not  before  were  so  alluring. 
In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Wendte  occupied  the  chair  at  Pik»-'s 
Opera  House,  where  I  delivered  the  first  address  of  the  sea- 
son to  the  Unity  Club,  a  society  which  gives  ten-cent  lec- 
tures to  the  people  on  Sunday  afternoon.  I  was  given  £1^ 
for  a  discourse  of  one  hour,  the  largest  sum  I  ever  received 
for  an  address.  I  generally  spoke  in  America  for  the 
pleasure  of  speaking,  but  the  churches  always  volunteered 
me  what  was  called  the  "  pulpit  fee,"  which  varied  accord- 
ing to  the  resources  of  the  congregation. 

The  Cincinnati  ♦*  Commercial,"  which  permitted  me  to 
explain  in  its  columns  practical  details  of  co-operation, 
recorded  that,  I  "  advised  those  who  would  help  in  the  pro- 
gress of  society,  to  stand  close  to  truth.  It  has  been  said 
that  truth  will  take  care  of  itself  if  let  alone.  Still,  in  view 
of  misadventure,  we  had  better  keep  near  to  her." 

In  Cincinnati,  where  I  was  the  guest  of  Mrs.  Wilder,  I 
observed  that,  in  directing  me  to  places  I  had  to  visit,  she 
said,  "  Go  east,  go  west,"  from  this  point  or  that.  I  told 
her  that  such  directions  did  not  assist  me  in  the  least.  In 
Scotland,  this  peculiar  language  was  common,  but  in  Eng- 


io6 


AMONG   THB   AMERICANS. 


land  it  was  neVer  heard.  "  Then,  how  do  you  gor  abou^' 
she  inquired,  **  if  not  by  the  compass?  '*  I  replied,  England 
was,  as  she  had  heard,  a  small  country,  and  we  had  no  room 
for  the  points  of  the  compass.  "  Then,  what  do  you  do 
when  you  ask  your  way  ? "  she  said.  I  answered,  "  We 
ask  for  the  place  we  want  to  go  to."  If  we  asked  a  police- 
man in  the  streets  whether  we  should  turn  east  or  west,  he 
would  inquire  of  his  superintendent  if  he  knew  such  a  place. 
We  ask  for  Chelsea,  or  Islington,  or  Whitechapel.  We 
have  in  London  an  East  End  and  a  West  End,  but  they  are 
names  of  districts,  not  of  a  geographical  quarter.  We  have 
no  North  End,  i^o  South  End,  and  nobody  conceives  that 
Southwark  is  in  the  south.  If  Board  Schools  were  to  teach 
such  things,  we  should  have  Lord  Sandon,  or  some  other 
Tory,  make  a  motion  in  Parliament  to  lower  the  standarcjl 
of  education,  lest  the  common  people  should  know  too 
much,  and  be  discontented  with  that  station  to  which  God 
had  called  them.  Mrs.  Wilder  said,  in  a  kindly  and  pity- 
ing way.  "  The  English  are  a  strange  people."  Writing 
to  Mrs,  Wilder,  afterwards,  I  dated  my  letter  "  West  of 
Somewhere,"  saying  she  would  know  where  I  was  though 
I  did  not. 

Good  Americans  are  said  to  go  to  Paris  when  they  die; 
but  it  appears  to  depend  upon  whether  they  have  been  to 
Chicago  first.  I  like  the  pleasant  egotism  of  its  citizens. 
All  towns  are  not  fortunate  in  their  names.  The  syllables 
in  New  York  come  together  like  a  nut-cracker,  and  Boston 
is  quite  a  mouthful,  almost  beyond  management;  but  Chi- 
cago is  the  most  musical,  full-spoken  name  a  great  city  ever 
bore.    A  place  with  such  a  name  could  not  be  poor  or  mean. 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


107 


The  Chicago  **•  Tribune  "  had  an  amusing  paper  entitled 
"A  Bamboozled  Reformer,"  founded  upon  an  interview 
with  mc,  furnished  by  its  own  reporter.  It  did  not  mean 
that  the  reporter  had  set  me  on  wrong  tracks,  but  that  mem- 
bers of  the  State  Socialist  party  had,  who  happened  not  to 
have  been  near  me.  With  the  customary  fairness  of  the 
American  press,  the  next  day  the  editor  printed  a  letter 
from  me,  which  he  put  under  the  title  "  Mr.  Holyoake  Ex- 
plains." What  I  explained  was,  that  while  his  observations 
were  clever  and  just  upon  what  I  was  reported  to  have  said, 
I  never  said  it.  By  some  fault  of  expression  on  my  part  the 
interviewer  misconceived  my  meaning.    • 

The  fairness  and  ability  with  which  his  report  was  made 
left  no  doubt  that  the  fault  must  have  been  mine.  Address- 
ing the  editor,  I  added :  "  My  impressions  agree  with  yours, 
that  employers  in  America  recognize  in  their  work-people 
claims  of  equality  beyond  that  of  any  other  country,  but 
upon  that  I  know  too  little  to  express  an  opinion,  and  ex- 
pressed none.  What  I  said  was  that  in  England  strikes 
were  often  produced  by  acts  of  contempt  of  the  claims  of 
men,  and  prolonged  and  embittered  by  words  of  outrage 
which  impute  dishonoring  motives  and  intentions  to  them. 
I  have  neither  met  nor  have  any  knowledge  of  the  Socialist 
leaders  whom  you  name.  If  their  objects  and  methods  are 
such  as  you  describe,  they  know  well  that  they  are  not 
mine.  At  the  same  time,  if  their  objects  are,  as  I  should 
suppose  them  to  be,  to  improve  the  condition  of  labor  and 
secure  it  a  fair  and  permanent  proportion  of  its  fruits,  I 
should  approve  of  those  objects.    Co-operation,  in  which 


io8 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


I  am  interested,  seeks  the  same  ends,  but  by  self-help,  hy 
reason;  not  by  violence,  but  by  creating  new  wealth — not 
confiscating  any  which  exists,  which  would  be  fatal  to  the 
security  of  the  property  of  workmen  when  they  acquire 
it.  The  policy  of  co-operation,  which  has  met  with  the^ 
approval  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  two  great  parties  in 
England — Mr.  Gladstone  and  Earl  Derby — is  not  likely 
to  be  one  of  confiscation,  or  unfair  or  unfriendly  to  the 
rightful  interest  of  en  -loyers.  You  are  quite  wrong  in 
thinking  that  I  come  here  to  promote  the  emigration  of 
the  idle  to  this  country.  The  idle  are  they  with  whom 
I  have  no  symjiathy,  and  they  are  precisely  the  people 
who  never  think  of  emigrating.  While  I  think  there  are 
better  methods  open  to  industry  than  that  of  strikes,  I 
pray  you  to  permit  me  to  state  that  many  of  those  who 
have  engaged  in  strikes  have  been  the  most  honest  and 
industrious  men  I  have  known." 

This  and  other  incidental  quotations  serve  to  preserve  in 
these  pages  a  substantial  record  of  what  was  said  on  co- 
operation during  my  visit. 

In  Chicago  I  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  an  invitation 
from  the  Rev.  Brooke  Herford,  whose  name  is  widely 
known  and  regarded  in  Manchester,  and  whom  I  found 
distinguished  in  Chicago  for  the  usefulness  we  have  recog- 
nized in  England.  I  was  surprised  to  find  his  church  so 
large,  handsome,  and  cathedral-like  in  the  interior,  without 
the  coldness  of  aspect  common  to  cathedrals.  The  Chicago 
**  Tribune,"  the  day  after  my  visit,  contained  the  following 
passage : 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


109 


The  pulpit  of  the  Church  of  the  Messiah  (the  Rev.  Brooke  Her- 
ford's  church),  at  the  corner  of  Michigan  avenue  and  Twenty-third 
street,  vras  occupied  on  last  evening  by  Mr.  George  Jacob  Holyoake, 
of  London,  England,  who  delivered  a  lecture  on  "  Co-operation."  In 
Introducing  him  the  pastor  stated  that  Mr.  Holyoake  had  been  a  friend 
of  his  of  thirty  years'  standing.  As  he  (the  pastor)  had,  in  the  days 
of  their  early  acquaintance,  been  accorded  the  privilege  of  preaching 
from  secular  pulpits,  so,  now,  he  was  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  have 
a  secular  subject  presented  by  Mr.  Holyoake  from  his  pulpit. 

Ithaca  is  not  a  great  city,  except  in  the  distinction  of  be- 
ing the  seat  of  the  Cornell  University,  the  most  perfectly 
secular  university  that  I  have  known.  They  there  teach 
the  arts  of  usefulness  as  well  as  learning,  and  rear  the  stu- 
dents to  be  citizens  as  well  as  scholars. 

Professor  White,  the  President  of  the  Cornell  University, 
was  absent  in  Europe,  he  being  appointed  United  States 
Minister  to  a  foreign  court.  The  acting  president  is  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Russell.  His  daughter,  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Sharmann  of  Plymouth  (England),  had  given  me  a  letter  of 
introduction'  to  her  father.  The  train  which  brings  you  to 
Ithaca  travels  round  and  round  a  mountain,  so  that  I  saw 
the  stars  shining  over  the  valley  of  Ithaca  three  times  before 
arriving  at  the  station. 

Professor  Russell  met  me,  and  drove  me  to  the  pretty 
and  learned  eminence  on  which  the  president's  house  stands, 
and  around  which  the  University  buildings  are  spread. 
After  dinner  we  fell  to  discoursing  on  co-operation,  the 
Professor  having  long  years  ago  taken  an  interest  in  it. 
He  asked  me  if  I  would  address  the  students  upon  it.  It 
never  occurred  to  me  to  speak  at  the  University,  and  I 


no 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


asked  naturally  what  I  could  say.    **  Say  what  you  have 
been  saying  to  me,'*  was  the  answer. 

Next  morning  at  lo  o'clock  a  written  notice  affixed  on 
the  chapel  door  told  the  students  that  Mr.  Holyoake  would 
address  them  there  at  12  o'clock.  Including  fifly  ladies 
who  graduate  there,  four  hundred  and  fifty  students  were 
present.  Every  seat  was  filled  as  the  president  entered, 
who  was  received  with  what  resounded  against  the  roof  like 
a  hailstorm  of  cheers.  I  never  heard  anything  so  distinct, 
and  consentaneous  elsewhere.  I  was  about  to  join  in  the 
cheers  when!  remembered  what  befell  Mark  Twain,  when 
he  was  one  of  the  guests  at  a  Mansion  House  dinner  in 
London,  who  relates  that  a  gentleman  at  his  side  was  dis- 
coursing  to  him  on  the  religious  prosf)ects  of  Great  Britain 
in  the  future,  when  he  heard  a  loud  clapping  of  hands  at 
the  name  of  some  guest  being  announced.  The  applause 
swept  Mr.  Twain  into  its  vortex  and  he  arose  and  clapped 
his  hands.  "Who  is  it  I  am  cheering?"  he  asked  of  his 
friend.  "  It  is  yourself,"  was  the  reply.  The  students  were 
not  specially  cheering,  but  some  of 'lieir  applause  was  prob- 
ably intended  as  an  expression  of  their  hospitality  to  their 
visitor. 

As  my  address  in  the  University  Church  was  upon  the 
**  Moral  Effects  of  Co-operation  upon  Industrial  and  Com- 
mercial Society,"  from  fifly  to  sixty  members  of  the  Social 
Science  Club  met  at  the  president's  house  by  his  invitation 
in  the  evening,  when,  during  a  conversation  of  three  hours, 
the  policy  and  practice  of  co-operation  were  discussed. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


AMERICAN    ORATORS. 


THERE  are  many  persons  who  have  no  very  bright 
idea  of  American  oratory.  The  splendid  roll  of 
Webster's  eloquence  is  known  but  to  few.  The  popular 
idea  of  an  American  orator  is  of  a  vivacious  speaker  who 
smells  a  rat,  sees  it  floating  in  the  air,  and  nips  it  in  the  bud. 
Yet  there  is  speaking  in  America  which  is  not  volubility — 
speaking  which  presents  that  swift  compression  of  words, 
that  newness  and  force  of  thought,  that  freshness  of  facts 
and  display  of  imminent  consequences  by  a  luminous  imag- 
ination, compelling  the  hearer  to  action — which  all  men 
agree  to  call  oratory. 

The  public  speaker  is  clear,  full,  ready,  and  exact.  His 
province  is  to  instruct  and  satisfy  the  understanding.  The 
orator  inspires  the  passions.  When  the  speaker  ceases  the 
hearer  sees  what  has  to  be  done ;  when  the  orator  ceases 
they  do  it. 

On  the  day  I  had  the  honor  of  an  interview  with  Presi- 
dent Hayes,  at  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel,  the  Seventh  Regi- 
ment held  a  fair  in  its  new  armory.  Speeches  were  made 
by  Mayor  Cooper  and  George  William  Curtis.  President 
Hayes  was  escorted  by  the  regiment  from  the  Fifth  Avenue 


iia 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


Hotel  to  the  armory.  Mr.  Curtis  I  everywhere  heard 
spoken  of  as  a  politician  of  principle  and  integrity.  Being 
unable  to  accept  his  invitation  to  visit  him  at  his  seat,  at  Ash- 
field,  I  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  his  manner  of  speak- 
ing, save  from  the  few  words  he  spoke  at  the  Saratoga  Con- 
vention. The  following  are  the  passages  from  his  oration 
at  the  Armory  Fair.  No  volunteer  can  read  it  without 
pride.  We  have  no  such  speech  made  to  soldiers  in  Eng- 
land. There  is  no  **  bunkum ''  in  its  chaste  and  vigorous 
words.  The  New  York  papers  reported  that  Mr.  Curtis 
was  welcomed  with  great  cheering,  and  his  voice  rang  out 
clear  and  strong,  arresting  the  attention  of  the  crowd  that 
had  become  restless  under  its  inability  to  hear  the  Mayor. 
Mr.  Curtis  said: 

"This  brilliant  presence  and  the  splendid  spectacle  of  to-day's 
parade  recall  another  scene.  Through  the  proud  music  of  pealing 
bugles  and  beating  drums  that  filled  the  air  as  we  came  hither,  I 
heard  other  drums  and  other  bugles  marking  another  march.  Under 
a  waving  canopy  of  red,  white,  and  blue,  through  *'a  tempest  of 
cheers  two  miles  long,"  as  Theodore  Winthrop  said,  amid  fervent 
prayers,  exulting  hopes,  and  passionate  farewells,  the  Seventh  Regi- 
ment marched  down  Broadway,  on  the  19th  of  April,  eighteen  years 
ago.  When  you  marched.  New  York  went  to  the  war.  Its  patriotism, 
its  loyalty,  its  unquailing  heart,  its  imperial  will,  moved  in  your  glit- 
tering ranks.  As  you  went  you  carried  the  flag  of  national  union, 
but  when  you  and  your  comrades  of  the  army  and  navy  returned, 
the  stars  and  stripes  shone  not  only  with  the  greatness  of  a  nation, 
but  with  the  glory  of  its  universal  liberty. 

These  are  traditions  that  will  long  be  cherished  in  this  noble  hall. 
In  great  and  sudden  emergencies  the  State  militia  is  the  nucleus  and 
vanguard  of  the  volunteer  army.  Properly  organized,  it  furnishes 
the  trained  skill,  the  military  habit  and  knowledge,  without  which 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


"3 


patriotic  zeal  is  but  wind  blowing  upon  tlie  sails  of  a  ship  without  a 
rudder.  No  public  money  is  more  economically  spent,  no  private  aid 
is  more  worthily  given,  than  that  for  supporting  the  militia  amply, 
generously,  and  in  the  highest  discipline.  Other  countries  maintain 
enormous  armies  by  enormous  taxation.  The  citizen  suffers  that  the 
soldier  may  live.  Our  kinder  fate  enables  us,  at  an  insignificant  cost, 
to  provide  in  the  National  Guard  not  only  the  material  of  an  army, 
but  a  school  of  officers  to  command  it.  A  regiment  like  the  Seventh, 
and  the  other  renowned  regiments  of  the  city,  is  not  only  in  its  de- 
gree the  model  of  an  admirable  army,  but  it  is  a  military  normal 
school.  It  teaches  the  teacher.  Six  hundred  and  six  members  of  this 
regiment  received  commissions  as  officers  in  the  volunteer  army; 
three  rose  to  be  major-generals,  nineteen  to  be  brigadiers,  twepty« 
nine  to  be  colonels,  and  forty-five  lieutenant-colonels. 

Mr.  Commander,  on  this  happy  day  every  circumstance  is  auspi- 
cious. The  Mayor  of  the  city  in  which  your  immediate  duties  lie, 
presides  over  the  vast  and  brilliant  assembly  which  throngs  these 
beautiful  bazaars.  The  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  Union,  who  may,  in 
a  sudden  danger,  call  you  into  the  national  service,  leaving  the  Na- 
tional Capital,  gladly  dignifies  the  occasion  with  his  presence.  Great 
officers  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State  are  here  to  attest  their 
grateful  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the  New  York  Militia  and  Na- 
tional  Guard.  So  should  it  be,  for  in  the  hands  of  this  gallant  regl- 
ment  the  flag  of  the  Union  and  the  flag  of  the  State  are  intertwined. 
Their  honor  and  their  glory  are  inseparable.  The  welfare  of  the 
States  is  the  happiness  of  the  Union.  The  power  of  the  Union  is  the 
security  of  the  States.  God  save  the  State  of  New  York !  Grod  save 
the  United  States  of  America! 

I  have  twice  abridged  this  speech  and  twice  restored  it. 

1 1  give  it  now  as  it  was  spoken.    Soldiers  in  England  will 

read  it  with  interest  for  its  fine  animation,  and  civilians  for 

its  instruction  as  respects  the  military  policy  of  a  republic. 

Last  year  Mr.  Curtis  made  an  oration  on  unveiling  a  statue 


I 


114 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


of  Robert  Burns  in  the  Central  Park  at  New  York.  No 
oration  that  I  read  at  the  time  of  the  Centenary  of  Burns 
equalled  this  in  splendor  of  expression  and  discrimination 
between  what  was  unwise  in  the  poet's  life  and  imperish- 
able in  his  jTjenius.  v 

The  next  example  I  quote  is  also  inspired  by  mihtary 
memories.  The  orator  is  Colonel  Robert  G.  IngersoU. 
Some  orators  have  argument  without  wit;  some  have  wit 
without  humor;  some  have  humor  without  pathos;  some 
iiave  pathos  without  passion;  some  have  passion  without 
imagination.  !  IngersoU  has  all  these  qualities.  Everybody 
knows  this  in  America.  Mr.  James  White,  formerly  M.  P. 
for  Brighton,  who  traveled  in  America  when  IngersoU 
made  campaign  speeches  for  Hayes,  told  me  that  no  ora- 
tions at  that  time  had  the  character  and  originality  of  Inger- 
soll's,  whose  late  campaign  speeches  for  President  Garfield 
displayed  yet  greater  qualities.  During  the  nights  that  we 
sat  up  together  in  Washington,  telling  stories  of  propa- 
gandist adventure,  I  heard  the  Colonel  relate  things  which 
others  present  had  heard  before.  Yet  every  one  was  as 
much  moved  to  indignation  and  laughter  as  I  was,  who 
heard  them  for  the  first  time.  The  following  speech  was 
made  at  the  great  banquet  given  to  General  Grant  in  Chi- 
cago, on  his  return  from  Europe.  Sherman  and  Sheridan 
also  sat  at  the  table.  The  speech  is  in  the  Colonel's  graver 
mood,  the  subject  being  in  memory  of  the  soldiers  who  fell 
in  the  great  war  for  the  freedom  of  the  colored  race.  Col. 
IngersoU  said : 

When  slavery  in  the  savagery  of  the  lash,  and  the  insanity  of  sc^ 
cession  confronted  the  civilization  of  our  country,  the  question,  "Will 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


"5 


the  great  Republic  defend  itself? "  was  asked  by  every  lover  of  man- 
kind. The  soldiers  of  the  Republic  were  not  seekers  for  vulgar 
glory,  neither  were  they  animated  by  the  hope  of  plunder  or  love  of 
conquest.  They  were  the  defenders  of  humanity,  the  destroyers  of 
prejudice,  the  breakers  of  chains,  and,  in  the  name  of  the  future,  slew 
tlic  monster  of  their  time.  They  blotted  out  from  our  statute  books 
the  laws  passed  by  hypocrites  at  the  instigation  of  robbers,  and  tore 
with  brave  and  indignant  hands  from  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  that  infamous  clause  that  made  men  the  catchers  of  their  fel- 
low men.  They  made  it  possible  forjudges  to  be  just,  for  statesmen 
to  be  humane,  and  for  politicians  to  be  honest.  They  broke  the 
shackles  from  the  limbs  of  slaves,  from  the  souls  of  masters,  and 
from  the  Northern  brain.  They  kept  our  country  on  the  map  of  the 
world  and  our  flag  in  Heaven.  Thev  rolled  the  stone  from  the  sepul- 
chre of  progress,  and  found  therein  two  angels  clad  in  shining  gar- 
ments— nationality  and  liberty. 

The  soldiers  were  the  saviors  of  the  Republic;  they  were  the 
liberators  of  men.  In  writing  the  Proclamation  of  Emancipation, 
Lincoln,  greatest  of  our  mighty  dead,  whose  memory  is  as  gentle  as 
a  summer  air  when  reapers  sing  amid  gathered  sheaves,  copied  with 
the  pen  what  the  grand  hands  of  brave  comrades  had  written  with 
their  swords.  Grander  than  the  Greek,  nobler  than  the  Roman,  the 
soldiers  of  the  Republic,  with  patriotism  as  careless  as  the  air,  fought 
for  the  rights  of  others,  for  the  nobility  of  labor,  and  battled  that  a 
mother  should  own  her  child,  that  arrogant  idleness  might  not  scar 
the  back  of  patient  toil,  and  that  our  country  should  not  be  a  many- 
headed  monster,  made  of  warring  states,  but  a  nation,  sovereign, 
grand,  and  free.  Blooc'  was  as  water,  money  was  as  leaves,  and  life 
was  only  common  air,  vt  til  one  flag  floated  over  one  Republic,  with- 
out a  master  and  without  a  slave  There  is  another  question  still. 
Will  all  the  wounds  of  war  be  healed.''  I  answer,  yes.  The  Southern 
people  must  submit,  not  to  the  dictation  of  the  North,  but  to  a  ni; 
tion's  will  and  the  verdict  of  mankind.  Freedom  conquered  tliom, 
and  freedom  will  cultivate  their  fields,  will  educate  their  children, 
will  weave  robes  of  wealth,  will  execute  the  laws,  and  fill  their  land 


ii6 


AMONG  THB   AMERICANS. 


with  happy  homes.  The  soldiers  of  the  Union  saved  the  South  as 
well  as  the  North.  They  gave  us  a  nation.  They  gave  us  liberty 
here,  and  their  grand  victories  have  made  tyranny  the  world  over  as 
insecure  as  snow  upon  the  lips  of  volcanos. 

And  now  let  us  drink  to  the  volunteers,  to  those  who  sleep  in  un- 
known and  sunken  graves,  whose  names  are  known  only  to  the 
hearts  they  loved  and  left — of  those  who  oft  in  happy  dreams  can  see 
the  footsteps  of  return.  Let  us  drink  to  those  who  died  where  lifeless 
famine  mocked  at  want.  Let  us  drink  to  the  maimed,  whose  scars 
give  to  modesty  a  tongue.  Let  us  drink  to  those  who  dared  and  gave 
to  chance  the  care  and  keeping  of  their  lives.  Let  us  drink  to  all  the 
living  and  to  all  the  dead — to  Sherman,  and  to  Sheridan,  and  to  Grant, 
the  laureled  solcHers  of  this  world,  and  last  to  Lincoln,  whose  life, 
like  a  bow  of  peace,  spans  and  arches  all  the  clouds  of  war. 

Only  one  volume  of  the  orations  of  Wendell  Phillips  has 
been  published.  In  1875  he  presented  to  me  the  last  copy 
which  remained.  A  new  edition  is  now  spoken  of,  which, 
if  annotated,  would  certainly  greatly  interest  English  read- 
ers. The  passages  I  quote  are  from  subsequent  orations, 
which  appeared  in  occasional  pamphlets  at  the  time.  The 
qualities  of  Mr.  Phillips'  speaking,  I  have  already  described. 
The  quality  of  thought  in  these  passages  is  so  unlike  what 
Englishmen  expect  in  an  American  speech,  that,  on  read- 
ing them,  I  sent  copies  to  a  great  orator  at  home,  who  was 
not  likely  to  have  seen  them.  In  Washington  Street,  Bos- 
ton, stands  the  Old  South  Church,  which,  in  its  day,  was 
probably  the  finest  church,  or  one  of  the  finest  in  the  United 
States.  The  owners  proposed  to  sell  it,  as  its  site  had 
become  valuable  for  commercial  purposes.  The  price  they 
put  upon  it  was  $450,000.  Many  patriotic  ladies  in  Boston 
were  desirous  of  saving  it,  and  Mr.  Phillips  was  asked  to 


^^N— 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


"7 


deliver  orations  with  a  view  to  obtain  the  necessary  funds. 
He  made  one  oration  in  the  State  House,  with  a  view  to 
induce  the  State  to  buy  it,  and  another  in  the  church  itself, 
commonly  spoken  of  as  the  Old  South.  The  funds  came  to 
hand  eventually,  and  the  church  was  saved.  The  passage 
first  following  is  from  the  speech  in  the  Old  South  Meeting 
House.  The  statement  of  the  terrors  excited  by  the  idea  of 
universal  suffrage,  the  nature  of  the  courage  which  took  the 
risk  of  it,  has  never  been  put  so  vividly  by  any  other  orator. 
Mr.  Phillips  said : 

I  think  that  the  State,  on  the  broadest  consideration  of  duty,  is 
bound  to  give  its  citizens  something  more  than  the  knowledge  of 
arithmetic  and  geography.  It  does  well  to  supplement  the  common 
school  and  the  university  with  that  monument  at  Concord.  I  passed 
through  your  hall  as  I  came  up.  For  what  has  the  State  set  up  the 
bust  of  Lincoln  there .^  A  fortnight  ago  I  looked  in  the  face  of  Sam 
Adams  in  the  Rotunda  at  Washington.  What  did  the  State  send 
that  statue  there  for?  It  was  only  a  sentiment!  For  what  did  she 
spend  ten  thousand  dollars  in  setting  up  a  brand  new  piece  of  marble, 
commemorating  the  man  who  spoke  those  words  under  the  roof  of 
the  Old  South?  It  will  take  a  hundred  years  to  make  it  venerable. 
It  will  take  one  hundred  years  to  make  that  monument  on  Boston 
Common  venerable.  You  have  got  the  hundred  years  funded  in  the 
Old  South,  which  you  cannot  duplicate,  which  you  cannot  create.  A 
package  was  found  among  the  papers  of  Dean  Swift,  that  old  fierce 
hater,  his  soul  full  of  gall,  who  faced  England  in  her  maddest  hour, 
and  defeated  her  with  his  pen,  charged  with  a  lightning  hotter  than 
Junius.  Wrapped  up  amid  his  choicest  treasures  was  found  a  lock  of 
hair.  "  Only  a  woman's  hair,"  was  the  motto.  Deep  down  in  that 
heart,  full  of  strength,  fury,  and  passion,  there  lay  this  fountain  of 
sentiment;  undoubtedly  it  colored  and  gave  strength  to  all  that  char- 
acter. When  they  flung  the  heart  of  Wallace  ahead  in  the  battle,  and 
said, «« Lead,  as  you  have  always  done ! "  what  was  the  sentiment  that 


ii8 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


made  a  hundred  Scotchmen  fali  dead  over  it  to  protect  it  from  cap. 
tiire?  When  Nelson,  on  the  broad  sea,  a  tlioiiRond  miles  off,  tele* 
graphed,  "  England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty,"  what  made 
every  sailor  a  hero?  If  you  had  given  him  a  brand  new  flag  of  yes- 
terday, would  it  hav  ;  stirred  the  blood  like  that  which  had  faced  the 
battle  and  the  breeze  a  thousand  years?  No,  indeed  I  Nothing  buta 
sentiment,  but  it  made  every  sailor  a  Nelson. 

They  say  the  Old  South  is  ugly.  I  should  be  ashamed  to  know 
whether  it  is  ugly  or  handsome.  Does  a  man  love  his  mother  be- 
cause she  is  handsome?  Could  any  man  see  that  his  mother  was 
ugly?  Must  we  remodel  Sam  Adams  on  a  Chesterfield  pattern? 
Would  you  scuttle  the  "Mayflower,"  if  you  found  her  Dutch  in  her 
build?  , 

But  they  say  the  Old  South  is  not  the  Old  South.  Dr.  Ellis  told 
us  how  few  of  the  old  bricks  remained,  which  was  the  original  cor- 
ner, and  which  really  heard  Warren.  They  say  the  human  body 
changes  in  seven  years.  Half  a  million  of  men  gathered  in  London 
streets  to  look  at  Grant.  The  hero  of  Appomattox  was  not  there; 
that  body  had  changed  twice,  it  was  only  the  soul.  The  soul  of  the 
Old  South  is  there,  no  matter  how  many  or  few  of  the  original  bricks 
remain.  It  does  not  change  laster  than  the  human  body ;  and  yet  all 
the  science  in  the  world  could  not  have  prevented  London  from  hur- 
rahing for  Grant,  or  from  being  nobler  when  it  had  done  so.  Once 
in  his  life  the  most  brutal  had  felt  the  distant  and  the  unseen,  and 
done  homage  to  tlie  ideal. 

The  next  passage  is  from  his  oration  in  the  State  House, 
with  the  object  of  inducing  the  Government  of  Massachu- 
setts to  save  the  historic  old  church.  Mr.  Phillips  reasoned 
thus: 

The  times  which  President  Eliot  has  so  eloquently  described  were 
hours  of  great  courage.  When  Sam  Adams  and  Warren  stood  under 
that  old  roof,  knowing  that,  with  a  little  town  behind  them,  and  thir- 
teen sparse  colonies,  they  were  defying  the  strongest  Government, 


AMONG  THE  AMERICANS. 


119 


and  the  most  obstinate  race  in  Europe,  it  was  a  very  brave  hour. 
When  they  set  troops  in  rank  against  Great  Britain,  a  few  years  later, 
it  was  reckless  daring.  History  and  poetry  have  done  full  justice  to 
that  element  in  the  character  of  our  fathers,  nothing  more  than  jus* 
tice.  We  can  hardly  appreciate  the  courage  with  which  a  man  in  or- 
dinary life  steps  out  of  the  ranks,  makes  a  crisis,  while  no  opinion 
has  yet  been  ripened  to  protect  him,  not  knowing  whether  the  mass 
will  rise  to  that  level  which  shall  make  jt  safe — make  a  revolution  in* 
stead  of  a  mere  revolt.  But  there  was  a  much  bolder  element  in  our 
fathers*  career  than  the  courage  which  set  an  army  in  the  field — than 
even  the  courage  which  faced  arrest  and  imprisonment,  and  a  trial  be- 
fore n  London  jury.  That,  as  I  think,  was  the  daring  which  rested 
this  Government,  after  the  battle  was  gained,  on  the  character  of  the 
masses — on  the  suffrage  of  every  individual  man.  That  was  an  in- 
fmitely  higher  and  serener  courage.  You  must  remember,  Mr.  Chair- 
man, no  State  had  ever  risked  it. 

There  never  had  been  a  practical  statesman  who  advised  it.  No 
previous  experiment  threw  any  light  on  that  untried  and  desperate 
venture.  Greece  liad  her  republics — they  were  narrowed  to  a  race, 
and  rested  on  slaves.  Switzerland  had  her  republics — they  were  the 
republics  of  families.  Holland  had  her  republic — it  was  a  republic  of 
land-owners.  Our  fathers  were  to  cut  loose  from  property,  from  the 
anchorage  of  landed  estates ;  they  were  to  risk  what  no  State  had 
ever  risked  before,  what  all  human  experience  and  all  statesmanship 
considered  stark  madness.  Jefferson  and  Sam  Adams,  representing 
two  leading  States,  may  be  supposed  to  have  looked  out  on  their 
future,  and  contemplated  cutting  loose  from  all  that  the  world  had  re* 
garded  as  safe — property,  privileged  classes,  a  muzzled  press.  It  was 
a  pathless  sea.  But  they  had  that  serene  faith  in  God,  that  it  was  safe 
to  trust  a  man  with  the  rights  He  gave  him.  These  forty  millions  of 
people  have  at  last  achieved  what  no  race,  no  nation,  no  iige,  hitherto 
has  succeeded  in  doing.  We  have  founded  a  Republic  on  the  unlim- 
ited suffrage  of  the  millions.  We  have  actually  worked  out  the  prob- 
lem that  man,  as  God  created  him,  may  be  trusted  with  self-govern- 


I20 


AMONG   THB   AMBUICANS. 


ment.  We  have  shown  the  world  that  a  Church  without  a  bisndp, 
and  a  State  without  a  king  is  an  actual,  real,  everyday  possibility. 

A  hundred  years  ago  our  fathers  announced  this  sublime,  and  as  it 
seemed  then,  foolhardy  declaration,  that  God  intended  all  men  to  be 
free  and  equal — all  met  without  restriction,  without  qualification, 
without  limit.  A  hundred  years  have  rolled  away  since  that  ventur* 
ous  declaration,  and  to-day,  with  a  territory  that  joins  ocean  to  ocean, 
with  forty  millions  of  people,  with  two  wars  behind  her,  with  the 
grand  achievement  of  having  grappled  with  the  fearful  disease  tliat 
threatened  her  central  life,  and  broken  four  millions  of  her  fetters, 
the  great  Republic,  stronger  than  ever,  launches  into  the  second  cen- 
tury of  her  existence.  The  history  of  the  world  has  no  such  chap- 
ter, in  its  breadth,  its  depth,  its  significance,  or  its  bearing  on  future 
history.  l 

France  has  proved,  and  it  has  been  proved  in  a  variety  of  cases, 
that  the  sort  of  education  that  makes  a  State  safe  is  the  education, 
the  training  that  results  in  character.  It  is  the  education  that  is 
mixed  up  with  this  much  abused  element  which  you  call  '^senti- 
ment." It  is  the  education  that  is  rooted  in  emotions,  of  slow  growth, 
the  result  of  a  variety,  an  infinite  variety  of  causes ;  the  influence  of 
books,  of  example,  of  a  devout  love  of  truth,  reverence  for  great  men, 
and  sympathy  for  their  unselfish  lives ;  the  influence  of  a  living  faith, 
the  study  of  nature,  keeping  the  heart  fresh  by  the  sight  of  human  suf- 
fering and  efforts  to  relieve  it;  surrendering  one's  self  to  the  emotions 
which  link  us  to  the  past  and  interest  us  in  the  future,  and  thus  lift  us 
above  the  narrowness  of  petty  and  present  cases;  using  ourselves  to 
remember  that  there  is  something  better  than  gain  and  more  sacred 
than  life. 

Never  before  was  "  sentiment,"  which  "  practical "  men 
are  accustomed  to  contemn,  so  brilliantly  vindicated,  or  its 
place  and  influence  on  national  character  so  discerningly 
and  vividly  described. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


FAMOUS    PREACHERS. 


THE  pulpits  in  the  places  of  worship  I  visited  were  not 
like  the  English  preaching  barrels,  but  were  rather 
altars,  with  space  around  them,  so  that  the  preacher  had  full 
freedom  of  motion :  and  like  the  Precenter's  desk  in  Scotch 
churches,  the  American  pulpits  are  lower  than  ours,  so  that 
the  minister  is  among  the  people.  Over  the  reading  desk  in 
Mr.  Herford's  pulpit,  in  Chicago,  a  gas  jet  is  made  to  burn. 
The  light  is  concealed  from  the  spectator  so  that  the  coun- 
tenance of  the  preacher  can  be  seen  unconfused  by  a  blaze 
of  light.  At  the  same  time  its  strong  rays  fall  on  the  pages 
before  him,  so  that  he  sees  with  certainty.  This  contriv- 
ance, I  observed,  is  a  common  appendage  to  an  American 
pulpit,  though  unknown  in  England. 

When  I  was  in  Hamilton,  the  first  city  in  Canada  you 
reach  after  leaving  Niagara,  the  Mayor  had  kindly  come 
down  to  the  Grand  Hotel  to  take  me  to  visit  the  Fair.  As 
I  stepped  into  his  carriage,  he  said,  "  That  is  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Beecher  sitting  in  the  shade  at  your  door."  Thereupon  I 
said,  "  I  must  go  and  speak  to  him.'*  In  the  angle  of  the 
portico  sat  a  gentleman  reading  a  newspaper:  he  was 
dressed  in  black,  and  wearing  a  wide-brimmed  white  felt  hat 


laa 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


that  served  to  intercept  the  stray  rays  of  the  fierce  sun  on 
the  letterpress.  Approaching  him  I  said,  **  Mr.  Beecher, 
eighteen  years  ago  you  told  me  that  when  I  was  next  near 
to  you,  I  was  to  come  to  you,  and  not  write  to  you.  This  is 
the  first  time  since,  that  I  have  had  the  opportunity  of 
seeing  you — how  do  you  do? "  He  rose,  looked  at  me  with 
his  dark,  bright  eyes,  and  shaking  hands  with  me  very 
cordially  said,  **  I  am  delighted  to  see  you — but  who  are 
you?"  I  answered,  "Mr.  Holyoake,  of  London."  "Are 
you,"  he  said,  "  George  Jacob  Holyoake  ?"  Upon  answer- 
ing "  yes,"  I  found  I  had  no  reason  to  regret  the  abrupt- 
ness with  which  I  jhad  introduced  myself.  He  desired  me, 
when  next  I  returned  to  New  York,  to  let  him  know  my 
address,  as  he  wished  to  have  a  morning  conversation  with 
me.  Some  weeks  later,  being  again  in  New  York,  I  sent 
him  the  information,  but  no  reply  or  visit  followed.  One 
Sunday  morning  I  went  over  the  water  to  hear  him  preach 
in  his  church  at  Brooklyn.  The  church  was  very  crowded, 
and  when  my  friend  who  accompanied  me,  mentioned  to 
one  of  the  officers  of  the  church  that  I  was  a  stranger  from 
London,  and  desirous  of  hearing  the  famous  preacher,  a  con- 
venient seat  was  found  or  made  for  me. 

While  we  were  singing  I  looked  over  the  hymn,  in 
which  were  the  following  lines : 

Let  Heaven  begin  the  solemn  word, 
And  send  it  dreadful  down  to  hell. 

It  was  a  hymn  of  Dr.  Watts's.  If  I  remember  rightly  these 
were  among  the  lines  we  sang.  I  wondered  how  a  man  of 
Mr.  Beecher's  cultivated  taste  could  admit  lines  so  painful 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


123 


and  discordant  to  appear  in  a  hymn  book  of  his  church. 
The  solemn  words  of  religion  ought  not  to  be  "  dreadful," 
and  if  they  were  ** dreadful"  there  must  be. enough  of 
misery  in  hell  without  sending  them  there.  Mr.  Beecher's 
discourse,  like  all  he  delivers,  was  very  remarkable.  With 
the  greater  part  I  could  entirely  coincide.  It  contained  a 
vivid  description  of  the  scantiness  of  the  general  records  of 
Christianity  so  far  as  it  was  promulgated  by  the  scriptural 
founder.  Christ  had  written  nothing  himself.  Those  who 
professed  to  record  what  he  said  were  themselves  mostly  il- 
literate. No  stenography  existed  in  Judea.  Though  we 
are  told  the  world  would  not  contain  all  the  books  if  his 
sayings  were  fully  reported,  we  have  but  a  comparatively 
brief  record  of  them ;  we  cannot,  therefore,  fully  judge  of 
their  beauty,  completeness,  nor  variety.  Through  whose 
hands  the  apostolic  records  have  passed,  what  changes  they 
sustained,  what  interpolations  they  have  suffered,  no  man 
can  tell.  It  was  impossible  not  to  be  impressed  in  favor  of 
Christianity  preached  with  this  manly  candor. 

The  discourse  was  founded  upon  a  text  where  Christ 
takes  le<ive  of  his  disciples,  promising  to  communicate  with 
them  on  another  occasion  fuller  particulars  of  his  mission. 
His  crucifixion  following,  a  fuller  communication  was  never 
made.  Hence,  argued  the  preacher,  we  know  not  all  that 
really  was  in  the  mind  of  Christ.  After  mentioning  two 
cardinal  subjects  upon  which  Christ  would  have  undoubtedly 
spoken,  had  his  life  been  prolonged,  the  preacher  came  to 
the  third.  All  along,  he  had  spoken  in  'an  undertone,  low 
and  clear,  which  penetrated  to  every  part  of  the  chapel,  then 
breaking  into  his  familiar  loudness  and  finished  emphasis  of 


"4 


AMONG  THB   AMERICANS. 


tone,  and  looking  down  to  where  I  sat,  he  said,  **  The  third 
subject  upon  which  Christ  would  have  spoken,  foreseeing,  as 
he  must  have  done,  the  future  needs  of  society — would  have 
been  Co-operation/*  I  was  startled  at  the  communication. 
I  had  heard  that  Mr.  Beecher  had  a  quick  eye  to  perceive 
and  identify  strangers  in  his  congregation.  He  certainly 
could  not  have  known  that  I  should  be  there,  and  if  his 
introduction  of  co-operation  was  a  coincidence,  it  was  re- 
markable, and  if  designed  afler  becoming  aware  of  my  being  . 
there,  it  was  a  masterpiece  of  facility  of  resource.  What  he 
said  was  expressed  as  an  inseparable  part  of  narration,  which 
was  delivered  thrc^ughout  with  unerring,  unhesitating  pre- 
cision. His  language,  manner,  and  action  were  more 
finished  than  when  I  heard  him  in  Exeter  Halt,  in  the  days 
of  the  civil  war.  His  preaching  is  entirely  that  of  a  gentle- 
man as  well  as  an  orator;  and  from  what  I  read  of  lectures  ^ 
of  his  delivered  elsewhere,  while  I  was  in  the  States,  I  judge 
that  his  reputation  depended,  not  only  upon  his  excellence 
as  a  speaker,  but  upon  the  boldness  and  originality  of  idea 
found  more  or  less  in  every  address. 

There  are  other  preachers  in  America  who  preach  with 
perhaps  equal  brilliance,  but  I  heard  of  no  one  who  speaks 
so  frequently  with  such  sustained  newness  of  thought. 
What  he  said  upon  co-operation,  as  a  new  element  promis- 
ing to  instil  more  morality  into  commercial  life,  showed  a 
complete  comprehension  of  its  character.  The  sacrament 
followed  the  morning  service  on  that  day,  and  as  I  could 
not  be  a  communicant  I  left,  as  my  presence  there  could 
only  have  implied  a  curiosity  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of 
the  ceremony.    As  a  hearer  in  the  church  I  was,  as  it  were, 


AMONG  THB  AMKRICAN8.  %»< 

1l 

a  natural  guest  of  the  congregation,  while  only  those  of  a 
common  conviction  could  be  properly  present  at  a  conr- 
munion  service.  Otherwise  I  should  have  remained,  for  the 
sake  of  speaking  with  Mr.  Beecher  again  at  the  close. 
Anyhow,  I  caused  information  to  reach  him  that  day  of  the 
hours  I  should  be  happy  to  see  him  at  the  Hoffmann  House, 
or  when  I  could  call  upon  him  at  Brooklyn  Heights,  if  that 
was  more  convenient  to  him,  but  Mr.  Beecher  made  no 
sign. 

A  few  weeks  later,  being  again  in  Boston,  I  mentioned 
to  Wendell  Phillips  the  circumstance.  "  O,"  he  said,  "  that 
is  just  like  Beecher.  A  friend  of  his,  who  had  been  to 
Europe,  met  with  some  choice  ecclesiastical  engravings, 
which  he  believed  it  would  give  Mr.  Beecher  great  pleasure 
to  possess.  They  were  of  some  value,  and  afler  he  had 
had  them  mounted  he  sent  them  to  him.  Months  elapsed, 
and  he  had  no  acknowledgment  of  them.  At  length  he 
sent  a  note  saying  he  did  not  desire  to  trouble  Mr.  Beecher 
to  write  a  letter  to  him,  but  he  should  be  glad  of  just  a 
word  by  which  he  might  know  that  the  parcel  had  not  mis- 
carried. No  answer  arrived.  One  day,  some  three  months 
later,  the  presenter  of  the  engravings  was  passing  down  the 
Lexington  Avenue,  at  a  point  where  the  streets  cross  at 
right  angles :  a  gentleman,  rapidly  walking,  came  in  colli- 
sion with  him,  and  who,  prodding  him  on  the  breast,  said, 
*  I  got  your  parcel,'  and  darted  on.  It  was  Mr.  Beecher, 
an<J  that  was  his  acknowledgment."  Mr.  Phillips  said  Mr. 
Beecher  was  a  busy  man,  upon  whom  so  many  public  and 
private  duties  were  pressed,  that  his  desire  to  serve  the 
many  oflen  deprived  him  of  the  opportunity,  which  would 


ia6  AMONG  THB    AMBRICAN8. 

bo  very  pleasattt  to  him,  of  showing  courtesy  to  individuals. 
Though  we  never  met  more,  Mr.  Buccher  sent  me  n  very 
genial  letter  on  my  leaving  America,  which,  being  charac- 
teristic of  the  writer,  I  may  cite  here : 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  134  Columbia  Heights. 

Dtar  Sir:  I  did  want  to  see  you,  and  set  several  da,vs  to  call,  but 
the  pressure  of  home  duties  obliterated  every  arrangement  I  had 
made,  and  you  will  go  home  leaving  me  only  two  snatches  of  a  sight 
of  you. 

You  will  leave  a  good  impression  behind  you.  I  admire  your  pru* 
dence  and  your  good  spirit,  and  nm  deeply  interested  in  the  cause 
that  you  have  so  much  at  heart.  The  egg  once  hatched  can  never 
get  back  to  egg  agaii|.  The  working  men  of  the  world  can  never  get 
back  to  what  are  called  the  **  good  old  days.*'  They  must  go  forward. 
In  finding  the  path  the  pioneers  will  make  many  circuits  and  track 
back  again  a  good  many  times.  While  my  m'.nd  naturally  has  led 
me  to  think  more  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  elevation  of  the  com* 
mon  people  than  of  their  commercial  and  industrial  necessities,  I 
have  not  been  unmindful  of  these  other  things,  and  have  rejoiced  to 
see  such  experiments  made  as  tliose  which  you  narrate.  In  every 
feasible  plan  for  the  enlargement  of  the  great  under  mass  of  men  I 
am  with  you  heart  and  hand. 

I  hope  the  sea  may  deal  gently  with  yoxi.  May  He  ♦•  who  hath  His 
>vay  in  the  whirlwind  and  in  the  storm,  who  sitteth  King  upon  the 
flood,"  preserve  you  and  let  you  see  prosperity  for  all  the  rest  of  your 
iiays.  Very  cordially  yours, 

Henry  Ward  Bbecher. 

It  is  clear  from  this  letter  that  Mr.  Beecher  remembered 
seeing  me  at  Hamilton,  Ontario,  and  in  Brooklyn  Church. 
The  "prudence"  referred  to  was  merely  that  of  keeping 
the  subject  of  co-operation  clear  of  other  things.  This  was 
simply  my  duty.    It  is  a  main  condition  of  advocacy  not  to 


AMONG   THB   AMERICA NS, 


"7 


let  the  subject  get  confused  in  the  ^xiblic  mind  with  any 
other  subject.  For  a  new  idea  to  be  distinctly  apprehended 
it  must  be  seen  many  times,  always  seen  distinctly,  and  seen 
by  itself. 

A  short  quotation  from  an  address  by  Mr.  Beecher  on 
the  "  New  Profession,"  mcanin]^:  that  of  the  teacher,  I  take 
from  a  Montreal  report  in  the  **  Daily  Witness.''  It  is  an 
example  of  his  oratory  on  the  platform : 

Governments  abroad  were  largely  engaged  in  protecting  them< 
seh'eR;  the  citizen  yvn»  respected  and  feared  abroad;  the  public  feeling 
was  that  men  were  chiefly  voluable  as  the  stufl'  with  which  to  build 
the  State.  In  America  the  theory  was  reversed ;  here  the  individual 
man  was  the  central  Hgure,  the  nation  his  servant.  In  Europe  the 
emphasis  was  put  on  the  Government  of  a  nation;  in  this  country  on 
the  man.  The  great  forces  now  working  in  this  country  were  those 
which  tended  to  elevate  man  and  make  him  better  and  nobler.  We 
were  developing  the  manhood  of  intelligence  among  the  people. 
The  emigrants  had  been  eggs  in  Europe,  they  were  hatched  here, 
lie  held  that  the  school  was  the  stomach  of  the  Republic.  The 
schools  of  America  were  that  stomach  by  which  all  nations  were 
digested  and  assimilated  into  Americans. 

Education  should  be  compulsory.  The  free  common  schools  should 
be  the  best  in  every  community.  It  was  a  burning  shame  when  pub- 
lic schools  were  not  as  good  as  private  ones.  It  was  the  foundation 
of  the  American  idea  of  the  development  of  manhood  that  the  public 
school  and  all  its  appendages  should  be  better  than  can  be  found  any- 
where else.  Its  architecture  ought  to  be  better  than  that  of  the 
church ;  its  rooms  ought  to  be  better  than  the  best  in  our  houses.  It 
was  the  duty  of  every  commonwealth  to  make  its  school  houses  gems 
of  art.  He  believed  that  democratic  simplicity  in  this  respect  was 
absurd.  Me  had  hated  the  school  house  where  he  had  attended,  and 
had  never  learned  anything,  and  he  abhorred  it  to  this  hour.  We 
should  not  permit  the  injustice  of  instructing  children  In  theologies. 


r 


128 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


It  had  been  said  that  would  be  godless,  but  it  was  not  so.  Was  a  car- 
penter's shop  godless?  The  churches  and  the  households  should 
teach  theology.  It  was  not  at  all  the  work  of  the  public  schools.  It 
did  not  follow  that  we  should  let  the  child  go  without  any  religious 
education.  Let  us  teach  him  honesty,  frugality,  uprightness,  and 
obedience  to  God  and  His  law.  Our  schools  should  have  the  full 
force  of  professional  instruction.  They  could  not  do  their  work 
while  they  were  the  mere  stopping-places  for  non -professional  men 
and  women.  In  law  and  medicine  we  require  experience  and  profes- 
sional talent,  and  it  ought  to  be  the  same  in  teaching.  The  profession 
of  teaching  should  rise  in  dignity.  Its  members  should  have  larger 
pay.  Of  all  parsimony  none  was  more  contemptible  than  that  which 
asked  who  was  the  cheapest  teacher. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Collyer,  well  regarded  in  England 
as  in  America,  is  of  commanding  stature,  and  has  what  in  an 
Englishman  is  always  to  be  admired — when  found — confi- 
dence without  arrogance.  Dr.  Bartol,  in  describing  Dr. 
Channing,  the  famous  Boston  pieacher,  stated  his  weiglit  to 
be  about  one  hundred  pounds.  If  oratory  goes  by  weight, 
Dr.  Collyer  holds  no  mean  rank.  When  Dr.  Channing, 
the  slender,  gave  out  the  line  of  the  hymn : 
Angel,  roll  that  stone  away, 

the  congregation  thought  they  heard  it  rumbling  on  its 
way.  If  Dr.  Collyer  gave  out  the  line  they  would  really 
have  heard  it  move — there  is  such  genial  authority  in  his 
voice.  When  the  deputation  from  a  spacious  church  in 
New  York  came  to  Chicago,  to  invite  Dr.  Collyer  to  be 
their  minister,  they  had  but  one  misgiving — "  would  his  voice 
fill  the  place."  "  If  that  is  all,"  said  the  Doctor,  « I  shall  do, 
for  my  voice  is  cramped  in  Chicago."  His  voice  would 
reach  across  a  prairie.     If  John  the  Baptist  spoke  with  his 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


129 


pleasant  power,  I  do  not  wonder  that  the  desert  was 
crowded  with  hearers.  Strong  sense  borne  on  a  strong 
voice  is  influential  speaking.  When  weighty  sense  sets  out 
on  a  weak  voice,  it  falls  to  the  ground  before  it  reaches  half 
the  hearers.  At  Dr.  Collyer's  church,  in  New  York,  I  met 
the  Poughkeepsie  Seer,  Andrew  Jackson  Davis.  I  never 
met  a  Seer  in  the  flesh,  before,  and  was  surprised  to  find 
that  he  was  graceful,  pleasant  and  human.  I  congratulated 
him  on  the  advantage  he  had  over  all  of  us,  in  having  the 
secrets  of  two  worlds  at  his  disposal. 

The  Rev.  Robert  CoUyer  was  one  of  the  few  ministers 
who  felt  that  it  was  his  duty  to  protest  against  slavery, 
come  what  might.  He  told  the  deacons  of  his  congrega- 
tion of  his  intent,  who  prayed  him  to  reconsider  it,  as  he 
would  "  burst  up  the  church."  He  answered  like  an  Anglo- 
American,  "Then  it  has  got  to  burst."  He  entered  his 
pulpit  in  Chicago,  and  began  his  protesting  sermon.  The 
war  was  coming  then,  but  had  not  broken  out.  He  had  not 
spoken  long  before  he  observed  a  commotion  at  the  end  of 
the  church.  The  hearers  were  conversing  from  pew  to 
pew;  the  buzzing  voices  travelled  near  to  him.  He  thought 
the  church  was  about  to  "  burst  up "  before  he  had  made 
his  protest,  when,  seeing  that  he  was  ignorant  of  the  cause 
of  the  commotion,  a  hearer  leaped  up  and  called  out  that 
the  **  Southerners  had  fired  upon  Fort  Sumter."  That 
was  the  news  that  had  set  the  worshippers  on  fire.  All  the 
church  leaped  up  with  inconceivable  emotion.  "  Then," 
said  the  brave  preacher,  "  I  shall  take  a  new  text — ^  Let 
him  who  has  no  sword  sell  his  garment  and  buy  one.*" 
Then  all  the  church  went  mad — Mr.  Collyer  said  he  was  as 


^i 


m 

'ill 


1 

i 


I     ! 


130 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


mad  as  any  of  them — and  the  choir  sang  "  Yankee  Doodle." 
The  church  witnessed  a  similar  scene  for  several  Sundays. 
The  churches  were  freed  in  a  night  from  the  yoke  of  slavery, 
and  religion  has  been  sweeter  in  America  ever  since.  Not 
only  the  almighty  dollar  was  forgotten,  but  every  family  in 
the  North,  in  the  highest  class  as  well  as  the  humblest, 
gave  a  father  or  a  son  to  die  in  the  noblest  war  ever  waged 
for  freedom. 

Englishmen  must  have  an  imperishable  respect  for 
America,  which  made  these  sacrifices  for  a  generous  senti- 
ment. They  fought  for  the  freedom  of  a  race  which  could 
not  requite  them>  whom  they  did  not  like,  and  whose  man- 
agement would  bring  untold  trouble  upon  them  for  years 
to  come.  But  they  would  no  longer  bear  the  shame  of  hold- 
ing human  beings  in  slavery. 

One  of  the  remarkable  preachers  of  New  York  is  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Felix  Adler,  who  was  some  time  professor  at 
Cornell  University.  His  father  was  an  eminent  Rabbi,  but 
his  son,  Dr.  Felix,  while  retaining  all  the  passion  and  fervor 
of  the  Jewish  faith,  no  longer  insists  upon  its  ceremonials, 
but  rather  upon  the  moral  holiness  of  .life.  He  is  the 
founder  of  a  Church  of  Ethical  Culture,  which  meets  in  the 
Chickering  Hall,  New  York.  The  congregation  includes 
a  large  proportion  of  Jews,  and  at  the  morning  service,  at 
which  I  was  present,  there  were  i,cxx>  to  1,500  persons  as- 
sembled. The  platform  had  no  assistance  from  art,  which 
it  wanted.  But  the  preacher  soon  caused  you  to  forget  that. 
Professor  Adler  is  a  slender,  middle-statured  gentleman,  ap- 
parently thirty  or  thirty -five  years  of  age,  with  a  glistening 
eye  and  sleepy  features,  denoting  rather  latent  passion  than 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


131 


langor.  His  voice  is  pleasant,  with  a  sincere  tone.  Stepping 
towards  the  front,  but  not  in  the  centre  of  the  copious  stage 
of  Chickering  Hall,  without  altar,  book,  or  note,  he  spoke 
for  an  hour  with  eloquence  and  enthusiasm,  which  held 
everybody  in  attention. 

I  never  heard  a  discourse  anywhere  like  his  as  to  ideas. 
His  argument  set  forth  that  the  Church  believed  in  morality, 
not  because  God  required  it,  but  because  humanity  needed 
it;  not  because  it  might  be  rewarded  hereafter,  but  because 
the  reward  of  right-doing  was  here,  and  because  the  neglect 
of  it  followed  every  man  like  the  shadow  of  an  evil  spirit, 
from  which  there  was  no  escape.  The  love  of  God  and 
the  hope  of  future  life  were  graces  of  conviction.  God  has 
not  set  his  bow  in  the  clouds  more  palpably  than  he  has  set 
the  sign  of  morality  in  every  house,  in  every  street.  Men 
may  disbelieve  the  priests,  but  they  cannot  disbelieve  their 
own  daily  experience.  The  gods  had  not  left  morality  de- 
pendent upon  the  rise  and  fall  of  Churches.  The  philoso- 
pher was  a  greater  teacher  of  morality  than  the  theologian. 
Since  the  death  of  my  friend,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Binney, 
who  taught  men  "  How  to  make  the  best  of  both  worlds," 
I  have  heard  from  no  pulpit  arguments  like  those  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Adler.  The  Church  of  culture  and  morality 
proves  itself  to  be  one  of  charity  and  enthusiasm.  One  of 
the  congregation,  Mr.  Joseph  Seligman,  had  given  $10,000 
for  promoting  the  kinder-garden  schools  of  the  Church, 
which  had  great  repute. 


y 


CHAPTER  X. 


CO-OPERATION   IN   THE   NEW   WORLD» 


THE  reader  has  already  seen  some  description  of  the 
meeting  at  Cooper  Institute,  New  York,  which  was 
the  most  important  meeting  on  co-operation  in  which  I  was 
concerned.  It  was  there  I  first  met  Dr.  Robert  Collyer, 
who  presided.  The  address  I  delivered  was  reprinted  in 
many  papers,  and  in  the  "  Worker,"  in  which  it  occupied 
nine  columns.  Professor  Raymond  stated  they  had  com- 
menced the  Cooper  Union  Lectures  for  the  year,  earlier 
than  usual,  as  I  was  about  to  return  to  England,  and  they 
wished  to  commence  with  an  address  on  co-operation.  Mr. 
Thomas  Ainge  Devyr,  of  the  "  Irish  World,"  who  was  on 
the  platform,  was  the  first  to  advocate  in  Ireland  that  doc- 
trine of  Land  Reform  which  has  since  occupied  so  much 
public  attention.  About  1858,  three  years  before  the  slave 
war  broke  out  in  America,  he  sent  me  from  New  York  a 
printed  statement  of  the  causes  whose  operations  would  end 
in  war.  It  was  a  perfect  political  prophecy.  Mr  Devyr 
raised  some  question  at  the  Cooper  Union  as  to  its  adminis- 
tration, when  Mr,  Peter  Cooper,  the  founder,  arose,  handed 
to  me  his  overcoat,  and  advancing  to  the  front,  spoke  in  a 
clear,  frank  voice,  and  without  digression,  vindicating  his 


Hi- 11 


134 


AMONG   THB   AMERICANS. 


management  by  statistical  facts  which  showed  an  accurate 
memory.  "  We  educate,"  he  said,  "  2,000  people  here,  and 
now  I  am  building  a  new  story  for  the  purpose  of  affording 
education  to  1,000  more.  But  I  am  glad,"  he  added,  "to 
hear  suggestions  which  may  enable  me  to  make  the  place 
more  useful.  As  I  grow  older  I  hope  to  profit  by  sound 
advice  (if  I  get  it).  I  am  only  now  in  my  eighty-ninth 
year."  Thus  pleasantly  the  practical  patriarch  of  New 
York  closed  the  discussion.  He  bears  a  striking  resemblance 
to  Sir  Josiah  Mason,  of  Birmingham,  who  is  but  five  years 
his  junior,  and  Vvho  has  equally  distinguished  himself  by 
discerning  educational  munificence.  Mr.  Cooper  told  me 
that  his  mother's  house  in  her  earlier  years  was  barricaded 
against  the  attack  of  Indians  in  New  York,  which  carries 
the  memory  a  long  way  back. 

The  author  of  "  Our  Visit  to  Hindostan,"  relates  that  at 
Ulwar,  the  political  agent  wished  to  plant  an  avenue  of 
trees  on  either  side  of  the  road  in  front  of  the  shops,  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  shade,  and  had  decided  to  put  in  peepul 
trees,  which  are  considered  sacred  by  the  Hindoos;  but  the 
bunnniahs^  or  native  shopkeepers,  one  and  all  declared  that 
if  this  were  done  they  would  not  take  the  shops,  and,  when 
pressed  for  a  reason,  replied  it  was  because  they  could  not 
tell  untruths  or  swear  falsely  under  their  shade,  rdding, 
"  And  how  can  we  carry  on  business  otherwise  ?  "  The 
force  of  this  argument  seems  to  have  been  acknowledged, 
as  the  point  was  yielded,  and  other  trees  were  planted 
instead.  This  was  the  moral  of  my  lecture.  I  contended 
that  co-operators  could  permit  the  peepul  to  be  planted 
before  their  stores,  as  they  could  do  business  under  their 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


135 


shade,  having  no  taste  and  no  interest  in  telling  "  untruths," 
or  "  swearing  falsely  "  in  business.  Co-operative  inspiration 
is  that  which  Wendell  Phillips  has  defined  in  his  oration  on 
Garrison — it  is  character.  Co-operation  is  not  merely  a 
search  for  dollars — it  is  a  search  for  honesty  and  equity  in 
trade.  How  can  a  man  worship  the  good  God  of  honest}' 
in  his  church  who  has  been  cheating  all  the  week  over  his 
counter  or  in  his  counting-house?  Next  I  endeavored  to 
make  clear  the  distinction  between  co-operation  and  State 
Socialism.  The  adventures  which  befel  me  in  consequence 
will  be  found  in  another  chapter. 

One  passage  in  the  interview  recorded  in  the  "  Tribune  " 
was  the  following :  "  Have  you  a  purchasing  agency  in 
New  York?"  "Yes.  The  English  co-operators  have 
been  doing  business  in  New  York  for  five  years.  Mr. 
Gledhill,  the  trusted  agent  of  the  great  Co-operative  Whole- 
sale Society  of  Manchester,  has  occupied  offices  at  No.  14 
Broadway,  since  1874.  During  the  past  year  we  have 
made  JC  10,000  or  $50,000  of  profit  upon  cheese  alone 
bought  in  the  New  York  market.  I  find  that  since  May 
last  Mr.  Gledhill  has  shipped  from  this  city  60,000  boxes  of 
cheese  to  Liverpool  for  the  consumption  of  the  co-operators 
of  England,  and,  as  the  cheese  no  doubt  has  a  good  repub- 
lican flavor,  American  principles  are  being  rapidly  assimilat- 
ed into  the  British  constitution. "  This  was  the  first 
intimation  the  citizens  of  New  York  had  of  the  residence 
in  their  midst  of  an  official  representative  of  the  Co-opera- 
tive Wholesale  Society  of  Manchester,  in  England. 

The  Oneida  community  no  entreaty  induced  me  to  go 
near.      My  main  reason  was  that  a  visit  from  me  would 


136 


AMONG   TUB    AMERICANS. 


have  been  in  the  papers,  and  it  would  have  been  thought  at 
once  that  co-operation  was  some  form  of  communism.  It 
was  my  duty  to  take  care  that  co-operation  should  be  seen 
as  a  distinct  thing.  The  communist  may  be  a  co-operator, 
but  the  co-operator  may  not  be  a  communist.  Of  all  forms 
of  communism  in  America,  I  least  liked  Oneidaism,  with  its 
special  sexual  theory  which  nobody  can  explain.  While  I 
was  there,  Mr.  J.  H.  Noyes,  the  leader  of  this  society, 
announced  what  he  called  a  "change  of  platform."  He 
had  given  up,  he  said,  the  practice  of  "  complex  marriages" 
in  deference  to  the  public  sentiment "  evidently  rising  against 
it."  Public  sentiitient  always  rose  against  it.  He  stated 
that  their  society  would  in  future  take  Paul's  platform, 
which  permits  marriage,  but  allows  celibacy.  It  was 
stated,  privately,  that  Mr.  Noyes's  son,  who  was  a  physician, 
refused  to  subject  his  wife  to  "  complex  marriage,"  and  that 
this  was  the  cause  of  its  abandonment.  If  the  devisor  of 
Oneidaism  was  convinced  that  complex  marriage  was 
wrong,  it  was  manly  to  relinquish  it.  Since,  however,  he 
admitted  that  he  did  not  renounce  the  belief  in  his  principle, 
the  abandonment  of  it  was  therefore  indefensible.  The 
Mormons  behaved  with  more  courage  and  consistency,  and 
refused  to  follow  Mr.  Noyes's  example,  saying,  "Why 
should  we  abandon  our  position  unless  we  are  convinced  we 
are  in  error?" 

Since  leaving  America  I  have  received  many  reports  of 
public  meetings,  held  in  New  York  and  elsewhere,  to  intro- 
duce co-operation  on  the  English  plan.  There  appears  no 
prejudice  against  any  scheme  which  is  good,  whatever 
country  it  may  originate  in.    There  would  be  more  English 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


137 


,»» 


features  introduced  into  both  America  and  Canada  than 
there  are,  "were  it  not,"  as  an  intelligent  observer  told  me  in 
Ottawa,  "that  many  Englishmen  come  over  there  filled  with 
bitterness  towards  their  own  country,  which  tends  to  dis- 
courage the  introduction  of  improvements  on  the  English 
plan.  Nevertheless,  co-operation  has  certainly  won  many 
friends.  Articles  upon  it,  or  reports  concerning  it,  continu- 
ally appear  in  the  American  papers.  The  idea  of  a  Whole- 
sale Agency  supplying  genuine  articles  to  the  stores  seemed 
to  most  persons  one  worth  realizing.  Mr.  A.  R.  Foote  and 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Rylance,  of  New  York,  have  commenced  to 
create  a  Wholesale  Agency  there.  Everything  in  America 
seems  to  be  adulterated — the  certainty  that  it  will  be,  if  it 
can  be,  seems  to  be  taken  for  granted.  If  co-operation  takes 
root  and  changes  this  it  will  amount  to  the  commercial  re- 
education of  the  people. 

Roughly  speaking,  no  commodity  can  be  trusted.  Quinine 
pills  are  not  real,  candles  are  short  of  weight,  and  silk  short 
of  the  yard.  Indeed,  if  stores  were  opened  on  the  English 
plan — of  genuineness  of  quantity  and  quality — they  would 
be  distrusted.  The  public  would  suspect  any  store  which 
proposed  to  treat  them  honestly.  They  would  think  that 
somewhere  the  snake  of  interest  lay  concealed.  Yet  there 
is  reason  to  think  that  this  distrust  will  be  overcome,  for 
there  is  no  difficulty  which  discourages  an  American  when 
he  has  fairly  made  up  his  mind  that  the  thing  he  has  in  hand 
ought  to  be  "  put  through."  If  the  people  do  resolve  upon 
association  they  mean  it,  and  one  or  more  of  the  active 
associates  bear  the  name  of  "  organizing  members."  This 
term  has  been  introduced  into  England  now,  but  in  Amer- 


138 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


ica  they  have  long  had  the  actual  person.  In  New  York 
the  gentleman  who  is  one  of  the  foremost  in  co-operative 
advocacy,  Mr.  Allan  R.  Foote,  has  a  genius  for  organization. 
He  has  written  and  published  a  scheme  of  a  wholesale 
society  and  of  co-operative  stores,  and  written  co-operative 
pamphlets  which  are  interesting,  brief  and  wise  in  expres- 
sion, as  well  as  business-like.  The  following  are  some  of 
the  sentences  he  prints  as  mottoes  in  his  small  books  of 
**  Co-operative  Laws  " : 

"  I.  To  grow  rich,  earn  money  fairly.  2.  Spend  less 
than  you  earn.  3.  Hold  on  to  the  difference.  The  first  re- 
quires muscle ;  the  second,  self-denial;  the  third,  brains." 

"  The  competition  of  the  individual  system  is  for  every 
man  to  see  how  much  money  he  can  divert  into  his  own 
pocket  from  the  pockets  of  those  who  labor  for  him.  The 
only  competition  possible  in  commercial  co-operation  is  to 
see  which  store  will  put  and  keep  the  most  money  into  the 
pockets  of  those  who  support  it." 

"  If  any  man  counsels  you  that  you  can  gain  wealth  any 
other  way  except  by  working  and  saving,  he  is  your  enemy." 

"  If  a  man  owns  a  sovereign,  he  is  a  sovereign  to  that  ex- 
tent. If  a  man  owes  a  sovereign,  he  is  a  slave  to  that  ex- 
tent." 

These  are  maxims  worthy  of  consideration  elsewhere 
than  in  America,  and  the  ideas  expressed  have  never  been 
put  better  anywhere.  "  Lectures  on  Social  Questions,"  in- 
cluding Competition,  Communism,  Co-operation,  and  the 
Relation  of  Christianity  to  Socialism,  are  a  series  of  the 
luminous  discourses  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  H.  Rylance 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


'39 


V  York 
perative 
lization. 
holesale 
perative 
expres- 
5ome  of 
ooks  of 

jnd  less 
first  re- 
ins." 
r  every 
lis  own 
I.  The 
►n  is  to 
nto  the 

1th  any 
nemy." 
hat  ex- 
lat  ex- 

jwhere 
r  been 
IS,  in- 
nd  the 
of  the 
ylance 


in  St.  Mark's  Church,  New  York,  which  would  be  read 
with  great  interest  in  England. 

The  custom  of  a  store  is  called  the  "  patronage  "  of  it.  It 
is  odd  that  independent  self-helping  Americans  should  re- 
tain a  word  which  is  so  distasteful  and  disused  under  our 
"effete  monarchy."  In  Mr.  Footers  rules  it  is  provided 
that  "25^  per  cent,  of  the  surplus  accruing  shall  be  ex- 
pended by  the  directors  in  such  manner  as  in  their  judgment 
shall  best  serve  the  purpose  of  recreation  and  education  of 
members."  Before  this  clause  was  drawn  you  had  to  look 
all  about  America  to  find  a  single  society  which  made  pro- 
vision for  education.  This  arises  partly  because  Americans 
have  more  education  about  their  cities  than  any  other  coun- 
try, and  partly  because  they  do  not  know  that  of  the  social 
education  necessary  for  industrial  concert — they  have  none. 

Mr.  Charles  H.  White  invited  me  to  New  Harmony, 
Indiana.  He  told  me  that  the  old  co-operators,  who  first 
formed  a  library  there  forty-two  years  ago,  which  was  com- 
menced with  less  than  100  volumes,  has  now  4,000.  The 
land  and  the  old  library  were  given  by  Mr.  William  Mac- 
guire.  The  library  tenement  has  been  rebuilt,  at  a  cost  of 
more  than  6,000  dollars.  A  community,  founded  by  Rapp, 
residing  at  Economy,  near  Pittsburg,  assisted  them  by  a 
contribution  of  3,000  dollars.  Dr.  Richard  Owen  arranged 
a  collection  of  minerals  and  objects  in  natural  history  in  the 
large  room  of  the  society  devoted  to  lectures  and  discussions. 

At  the  close  of  a  night's  voyage  from  New  York  I 
arrived  at  Watuppa,  at  the  east  of  Quequechan.  Watuppa 
is  the  Indian  name  for  "  the  place  of  boats,"  and  Queque- 
chan signifies  "falling  water."     Its  modern  name  is  Fall 


140 


AMONG    THE    AMElliCANS. 


River,  the  largest  cotton  manufacturing  centre  in  Americn, 
running  nearly  a  million  and  a  half  of  spindles.  I  spoke 
twice  at  Fall  River,  and  at  the  Narragansett  Hotel  I  met  for 
the  first  time  a  real  Russian  Nihilist — a  lady,  wondrously 
restless  and  vehement.  On  returning  to  the  city  I  was  the 
guest  of  Dr.  D  wight  Snow,  the  homcepathic  physician,  who 
printed  outside  his  envelopes  a  scheme  of  the  metric  system, 
and  with  it  a  recommendation  of  its  adoption,  published  by 
the  Post-office,  which  showed  a  wise,  practical  interest  in 
metric  calculation.  Mr.  King  (editor  of  the  "  Fall  River 
Herald,")  we  formerly  knew  in  London  as  a  man  of  varied 
information.  He  spoke  at  one  of  the  lectures,  and  gave 
accounts  of  them  in  his  paper,  which  were  far  more  effective 
than  reports,  since  they  combined  criticism  and  fact  stated 
.  as  only  a  journalist  can  state  them.  I  owe  many  acknowl- 
edgments to  the  English  as  well  as  the  Americans  at  Fall 
River. 

The  Fall  River  Working  Men's  Co- operative  Associa- 
tion occupies  an  entire  block,  consisting  of  several  shop 
fronts.  Very  few  stores  in  England  look  more  imposing. 
Stores  in  America  seem  mostly  to  have  been  begun  by  two 
or  three  enterprising  persons,  who  find  the  money  to  build 
the  place  and  trust  to  the  public  coming  to  deal  there. 
Beginning,  as  we  do  in  England,  with  a  few  small  share- 
holders, and  increasing  the  premises  and  business  as  new 
members  are  induced  to  join,  and  looking  forward  to  the 
education  of  the  neighborhood  around  it  for  increase  of 
members  and  purchasing  success,  is  a  plan  quite  unknown 
in  America.  Wondering  whether  this  arose  from  the  im- 
petuosity of  the  people,  I  found  it  was  partly  due  to  this; 


AMONG  TH£    AMERICANS. 


141 


shop 

)sing. 

two 

build 

there. 

thare- 

new 

the 

|se  of 

lown 

im- 

Ithis; 


but  mainly  to  the  laws  affecti  ig  co-operation,  which  prevent 
the  formation  of  stores  on  our  plan.  Yet  in  a  country  so 
unfettered  as  America  no  one  would  expect  industrial  im- 
pediments. On  the  contrary,  there  are  complications  in  the 
air.  The  Act  passed  in  1867  for  the  purpose  of  legalizing 
co-operative  and  industrial  unions,  prescribed  that  a  capital 
of  Xi,cxx>  must  be  found  before  commencing.  I  pointed 
out  that  this  law  rendered  co-operation  impossible  on  the 
English  plan,  since  poor  men,  who  most  needed  co-opera- 
tion, could  never  commence  it.  However,  when  I  pointed 
out  that  co-operation  was  legally  impossible  there  as  we 
conducted  it,  steps  were  at  once  taken  to  obtain  a  new  law. 
Mr.  Strahan,  a  very  able  counsellor  of  New  York,  and  a 
brother  of  the  editor  of  the  "  Contemporary  Review "  in 
England,  kindly  undertook  to  make  a  draft  of  the  Act  re- 
quired. The  one  thing  wanted  in  America  to  insure  the 
success  of  co-operation  is  the  art  of  ^^  making  haste  slowly,'* 
which  the  new  law  will  enable  them  to  do. 


1 

Ar 

tasi 
em 
Ne 
the 
tak 
thir 
con 
the 
we 
mos 
mer 
by 

CO-0 

direi 
in  >i 
Soci 
at  C 
the 


CHAPTER  XI. 

STATE   SOCIALISM   IN   AMERICA. 

THE  "  Worker,"  which  was  published  in  New  York 
when  I  arrived  there,  I  found  to  be  a  species  of 
American  "  Co-operative  News,"  written  with  sense  and 
taste.  Its  object  was  to  apply  co-operative  principles  to 
emigration  and  village  life.  In  the  first  article  I  wrote  in 
New  York  I  said  "  there  was  no  inflation  in  its  language — 
the  "  Worker  "  proposes  no  new  system — it  does  not  under- 
take to  clear  the  world,  or  recast  the  world,  or  begin  all 
things  anew.  It  does  not  call  upon  the  State  to  coddle  the 
community  and  do  everything  for  the  people,  but  to  assist 
the  people  to  do  something  for  themselves.  In  England 
we  do  not  want  the  State  to  overspread  us  like  a  universal 
mosquito,  and  suck  all  independence  out  of  our  working 
men.  Our  great  co-operative  organizations  have  grown 
by  being  let  alone.  Our  aim  always  was  to  set  up 
co-operative  colonies  which  should  be  self-provided,  self- 
directed  and  self-supported."  Before  I  wrote  these  words 
in  New  York,  I  had  flattering  offers  of  welcome  from  the 
Socialist  Labor  Party  there,  and  at  Fall  River,  at  Chicago, 
at  Cincinnati,  San  Francisco,  and  elsewhere.  Afterwards 
the  welcomers  came  not.    The  Socialist  Labor  Parties  were 


mi 


t'4 


144 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


absent  from  every  meeting  at  which  I  spoke,  as  though  they 
existed  not.  There  was  no  need  for  this  suspicious  absten- 
tion. I  was  what  I  had  always  been — an  advocate  of  the 
"republic  democratic  and  social."  Nevertheless,  in  their 
absence,  I  defended  the  objects  of  the  socialist  party  without 
accepting  its  methods  of  realizing  them.  One  who  had 
given  me  proof  of  great  friendliness,  wrote  to  me  concern- 
ing his  colleagues  in  New  York,  saying: 

"  Immediately  after  our  interview  last  evening  I  called 
upon  the  president  of  the  New  Club,  and  he  promised  to 
send  you  a  card  giving  you  the  freedom  of  the  Club  during 
your  stay  in  America.  I  also  saw  the  editor  of  the  "  New 
Yorker  Volks-Zeitung,"  our  daily  German  Socialistic  paper, 
and  he  (Mr.  Alexander  Jonas),  together  with  Mr.  S.  E. 
Shevitch,  of  that  journal,  and  the  distinguished  Russian 
Nihilist  of  whom  I  spoke,  will  call  upon  you  at  the  Hoff- 
man House  some  time  to-morrow. 

"  I  enclose  a  page  of  the  Chicago  "  Socialist,"  which,  I 
think,  will  answer  the  query  you  made  to  me  last  evening 
as  to  the  condition  of  Socialism  in  the  United  States.  In 
addition  to  the  gentleman  of  the  "Volks-Zeitung"  who  will 
visit  you,  the  special  committee  of  the  Central  Committee 
of  the  Socialistic  Labor  Party  of  New  York  City,  will,  I 
am  confident,  furnish  you  with  the  most  satisfactory  reports 
of  how  many  thousands  of  earnest  men  in  the  United 
States  are  endeavoring  to  solve  the  great  effort  of  your  life 
— the  success  of  co-operative  industry." 

This  friend  gave  me  the  first  portrait  of  Lassalle  I  had 
seen,  and  promised  me  an  introduction  to  the  famous  lady 
who  became  the  chieftainess  of  a  Lassalle  party. 


jh  they 
absten- 
of  the 
n  their 
without 
ho  had 
;oncern- 

I  called 
nised  to 
b  during 
e  "  New 
;ic  paper, 
[r.  S.  E. 
Russian 
he  Hoflf- 

rhich,  1 
evening 

ites.  In 
rho  will 

)mmittee 

r,  will,  I 

reports 

United 

TOVLY  life 

kle  I  had 
lous  lady 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS* 


H5 


Adherents  such  as  that  described  in  my  friend's  letter — 
numerous,  influential,  and  organized  in  the  name  of  Social- 
ism and  Labor — had  great  interest  for  m^,  and  were  well 
worth  addressing.  It  would  have  been  a  pleasure  to  know 
them.  The  deputation  referred  to  came.  It  was  my  fault 
we  did  not  meet.  I  was  at  Coney  Island  the  night  they 
called.  The  Council  of  Trades  and  Labor  Union  of  Chi- 
cago, instructed  Mr.  C.  M'AulifF,  their  secretary,  to  invite 
me  to  lecture  on  co-operation  to  the  workmen  of  that  city. 
It  was  Mr.  M'AulifF 's  fault  we  never  met  when  I  was 
there.  My  answers  to  his  letters  were  uncollected  at  his 
address.  It  matters  very  little  to  me  whaj^  other  people  say 
with  whom  I  am  associated,  so  long  as  they  concede  to  me 
reasonable  opportunity  for  expressing  my  own  opinions,  and 
do  not  force  upon  me  the  responsibility  for  those  they  hold 
and  I  do  not.  I  am  not  like  the  late  M.  Blanqui,  who  ex- 
pected a  perfect  government  to  be  carried  out  by  perfect 
men,  and  arranged  to  kill  all  of  them  who  did  not  come  up 
to  his  standard  at  once.  In  the  "  Trades"  of  Philadelphia, 
in  which  I  myself  wrote,  appeared  the  following  article, 
headed  by  the  disturbing  words, — ^'*  Make  Ready  for  Revo- 
lution :" 

The  present  order  of  things  will  go  down  in  revolution  and  blood. 
The  accumulated  corruptions,  wrongs,  and  mistakes  of  two  thousand 
years  are  near  the  bursting  point.  The  world  does  not  know  its  dan- 
ger.   A  peaceable  solution  of  the  discords  in  the  world  is  impossible. 

Property  has  no  rights  which  humanity  is  bound  to  respect.  The 
wealth  of  the  world  belongs  to  labor.  The  present  possessors  of  the 
bulk  of  it  are  the  possessors  of  stolen  property  stolen  by  themse  Ives. 


:| 


146 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


We  must  seize  and  run  all  the  great  trunk  lines  of  railroads  and 
all  the  telegraph  lines,  and  pay  their  owners  a  fair  value  in  legal 
tender  money  redeemable  in  the  wealth  of  the  country. 

And  much  more  to  the  same  effect.  Friends  who  found 
me  contributing  to  this  furious  jcurnal  must  have  thought  I 
had  turned  into  a  Socialistic  Comanche.  Those  who  made 
these  peremptory  proposals  meant  honestly  in  their  way. 
Though  their  terrific  scheme  of  improvement  is  as  appall- 
ing as  oppression  itself. 

I  have  said  I  met  a  real  Nihilist  lady  at  Fall  River. 
Many  of  these  refugees  meet  with  sympathy,  on  account  of 
the  oppression'  from  which  they  have  fled.  At  the  same 
time  it  would  be  to  their  advantage  if  their  language  was  a 
little  less  disturbing  among  a  free  people.  Mr.  P.  I*opoff, 
Russian  Nihilist  Secretary  in  New  York,  sent  word  that 
"  Nihilism  in  Russia  joined  hands  with  the  spinners  on  strike 
at  Fall  River."  The  "Labor  Standard"  announced  that 
the  news,  that  Miss  Le  Compte  was  to  be  the  Russian  Nihi- 
list delegate  "  flashed  like  lightning  through  the  city."  The 
Spinners'  Hall,  in  which  she  was  to  speak,  "  was  packed  to 
overflowing,  hundreds  being  unable  to  find  even  standing 
room."  When  she  entered  the  hall, "  escorted  by  a  number 
of  prominent  labor  men,  it  was  a  signal  for  an  outburst  of 
♦he  wildest  applause."  The  Chairman  then  introduced 
Miss  Le  Compte,  who  said : 

Comrades  of  Fall  River — I  am  sensible  of  the  honor  you  do  me  in 
asking  me  to  deliver  your  Fourth  of  July  address.  The  Russian 
Nihilists  are  a  terrible  sort  of  people,  most  absurdly  prepossessed  in 
favor  of  public  duty,  and  with  no  sympathy  at  all  for  the  little  human 
feelings  of  comfort  or  cowardice.    I  went  through  your  city,  saw 


ads  and 
in  legal 

•  found 
)ught  I 
5  made 
ir  way. 
appall- 

River. 
:ount  of 
le  same 
e  was  a 
t*opofr, 
ord  that 
3n  strike 
ced  that 
an  Nihi- 
r."    The 
icked  to 
standing 
number 
tburst  of 
roduced 

do  me  in 

Russian 

ssessed  in 

:le  human 

city,  saw 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


147 


your  mills  like  palaces  and  your  houses  like  barns  and  pigsties,  and  I 
wondered  at  the  effrontery  of  a  corporation  which  provides  such 
places  of  abode  for  the  people  who  build  and  run  such  mills.  (Hear, 
hear.)  When  the  mill-owners,  toadying  as  they  do  to  the  press,  sent 
their  agents  to  me  soon  after  my  arrival,  to  explain  to  me  the  "  situa- 
tion," as  they  called  the  strike,  I  told  them  I  had  seen  the  situation — 
I  saw  it  on  Six-and-ahalf-street — and  that  if  there  should  not  be  a 
strike  on  this  particular  point  of  wages,  there  should  be  a  strike 
against  homes  that  are  hog-pens.  (Applause.)  While  awaiting  your 
return,  and  hearing  of  the  hardness  and  heartlessness  of  the  manu- 
facturers, and  seeing  everywhere  the  damning  evidences  of  their 
rapacity  and  shamefulness,  I  realized  that  this  was  Fall  River,  and 
the  black  flag  of  starvation  was  floating  over  the  city !  and  I  wondered 
that  the  operatives  could  have  the  heart  to  celebrate  the  Fourth  of 
July.* 

This  was  pretty  free  language  from  a  stranger  to  the 
chief  citizens  of  a  town  wliich  gave  her  security.  If  the 
"  mill-owners  "  did,  as  she  says,  "  send  their  agents  to  her  to 
explain  the  situation,"  it  was  an  act  of  great  courtesy.  To 
represent  this  as  "  toadying  "  was  an  outrage  which  imper- 
ialism might  not  excel.     The  oratress  continues : 

Take  the  situation  in  Fall  River  to-day.  One  would  think  that  for 
the  sake  of  human  decency  the  manufacturer  would  not  pursue  his 
victim  beyond  the  threshold  of  the  poor  hovel  which  he  calls  his 
own.  But  do  they  do  it.?  Men  of  Fall  River,  answer!  Are  your 
homes  any  refuge  from  the  lords  of  the  long  chimneys?  Do  they 
not  confront  you  even  there.?  You  beat  them  in  your  trade  unions, 
but  they  foil  you  on  your  own  hearth-stones.  They  set  the  wives  of 
your  bosoms  and  the  children  of  your  loins  against  you ;  they  prove 
to  you  that  the  operative  has  no  rights  which  the  manufacturer  is 
bound  to  respect,  and  now  their  latest  declaration  is  that  "  The  mules 

*  ♦'  Labor  Standard,"  Extra,  Fall  River,  July  lo,  1879. 


li 


I 


ii 


rl"T' 


148 


AMONG   THB    AMERICANS. 


■will  be  taken  out,  and  the  men  will  be  discharged  and  their  women 
and  children  shall  run  the  ring-frames."  (Voice  from  a  spinner: 
"And  we  will  take  in  washing.")  No;  spinners  of  Fall  River,  you 
will  not  take  in  washing,  the  Chinese  will  do  the  washing,  you  will 
rock  the  cradles  of  the  brats  of  the  lords  of  the  long  chimneys. 
(Tremendous  excitement  of  the  audience.) 

Miss  Le  Compte  is  not  only  fervid,  she  has  a  brilliant 
readiness  of  invective.  When  riding  through  the  town 
with  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  he  being  a  large  manufacturer, 
I  asked  him  what  he  thought  of  these  furious  speeches,  and 
whether  he  was  called  upon  to  take  official  action  upon  it. 
"  Oh,  no,"  he  ^anrswered,  "  if  anybody  actually  breaks  the 
law  we  interfere  then,  but  in  America  we  don't  care  about 
a  little  hot  talking." 

One  day  I  asked  Mr.  Wendell  Phillips  whether  the  cry 
of  "  State  Socialism,"  with  its  talk,  loud  and  tall,  was  really 
a  matter  of  political  apprehension.  "  We  cannot  look  upon 
it,"  he  answered,  "  as  a  thing  of  any  danger,  if  we  can  be 
said  to  recognize  it  in  any  sense  which  implies  looking  at  it 
at  all.  If  any  party  is  numerous  amongst  us  it  can  get  its 
claims  accredited  at  the  ballot  box.  If  it  has  strength  in  the 
State  it  can  command  redress  that  way.  If  not  numerous 
enough  to  make  an  impression  on  the  ballot  box  it  is  not 
numerous  enough  to  fight  the  question  otherwise." 

In  San  Francisco  one  Denis  Kearney,  an  Irishman,  who, 
complaining  that  his  countrymen  had  been  driven  out  of 
Ireland,  was  employing  himself  in  attempts  to  drive  the 
poor  Chinese  out  of  the  country  which  had  sheltered  him, 
when  one  day  the  "  New  York  Tribune  "  said : — 


women 
spinner: 
ver,  you 
vou  will 
limneys. 

brilliant 
le  town 
facturer, 
hes,  and 
upon  it. 
jaks  the 
re  about 

the  cry 
as  really 
lok  upon 

can  be 
|ing  at  it 

get  its 
Ith  in  the 

merous 

it  is  not 

in,  who, 
out  of 
Irive  the 
^ed  him, 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


Kearney,  in  the  sand-lots  of  San  Francisco,  threatens  revolution 
and  riot,  as  he  did  ten  days  ago.  "  I  now  appeal  to  you,"  he  cried, 
"  to  get  ready,  for,  by  the  eternal  God,  the  men  we  have  elected  must 
be  seated,  and  by  physical  force,  if  necessary.  I,  for  one,  will  kiss  my 
wife  and  children,  bid  them  good-bye,  buckle  on  my  armor,  and  come 
into  the  street,  prepared  to  seat  the  r  len  I  voted  for.  I  have  weighed 
my  words,  and  claim  that  it  is  the  noblest  cause  that  sword  was 
drawn  for.  I  appeal  to  all  good,  faithful  citizens  to  do  what  I  tell  you. 
I  have  told  you  for  two  years  that  when  the  ballot  failed  I  would 
resort  to  bullets,  and  we  will  do  what  we  said.  All  that  is  left  for 
you  now  is  the  dagger  and  the  bullet.  If  you  do  not  show  the  cour- 
age I  expect  of  you,  you  will  be  enslaved  Tor  ever.  I  feel  it  in  my 
bones  that  it  is  my  duty  and  yours  to  seat  those  men.  Prepare  for 
the  worst.  Arm  yourselves  with  bullets,  hatchets,  pistols.  No  man 
must  go  to  work  on  that  day.  I  know  that  a  thousand  or  two  of  us  will 
get  killed,  but  all  the  thieves  will  get  killed.  When  the  melee  is  over, 
you  bet  there  won't  be  a  Chinaman  left  in  Chinatown." 

If  language  like  this  was  used  in  England,  agitated  people 
in  every  part  of  the  country  would  be  clamoring  to  the 
government  to  call  out  troops  and  pass  coercion  bills,  before 
assassination  began.  When  the  agitator  proceeds  to  act,  a 
Republican  Government  is  a  dangerous  thing  to  deal  with, 
but  it  does  not,  like  a  monarchy,  shriek  out  at  tall  talk.  Its 
calmness  and  dignity  was  shown  at  the  time  in  the  following 
passage  from  the  New  York  "  Tribune:" 

The  patience  of  the  people  is  the  furthest  thing  in  the  world  from 
timidity.  It  tolerates  bluster  because  it  has  no  fear  of  it.  It  permits 
Mr.  Denis  Kearney  to  foam  at  the  mouth  and  breathe  out  threaten- 
ings  and  slaughter  simply  because  it  takes  intelligent  measure  of  him, 
and  rates  him  as  contemptible  rather  than  dangerous.  It  trusts  "  the 
common  sense  of  most"  to  hold  this  person  and  his  followers  in 
reasonable  check ;  and  unless  he  infringes  law  or  does  some  overt 
act  of  violence,  it  lets  him  rant.    Kearney  is  a  sort  of  steam  escape — 


ISO 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS, 


ill 


noisy,  but  not  dangerous,  though  rasping  and  disagreeable.  There 
could  be  no  better  proof  of  the  absolute  confidence  we  have  in  popu- 
lar government,  and  of  our  belief  that  under  it  there  is  no  injury 
without  a  remedy,  nor  injustices  without  redress,  than  the  indiffer- 
ence with  which  we  view  the  efforts  of  fanatics  of  one  kind  and 
another  to  array  classes  against  each  other,  and  disturb  the  public 
peace. 

Mr.  John  Ehmann  has  published  a  lecture  he  delivered 
in  Cincinnati  to  the  Socialist  Labor  party.  He  commences 
by  saying:  "The  Editor  of  a  daily  paper  is  a  prejudiced 
and  a  totally  ignorant  man,  because  he  thinks  he  knows  all 
about  it "  (that  is,  about  Socialism).  He  quotes  the  conceited 
saying  of  Lassalle  to  some  one  who  had  questioned  some- 
thing he  had  said :  "  I  can  forgive  the  ignorance  of  the  man 
because  he  is  an  Editor."  Ehmann,  who  is  himself  an  able 
thinker,  declares  that  Socialism  does  not  intend  to  abolish 
private  property ;  on  the  contrary,  its  main  principle  is  to 
establish  private  property,  Mr.  Ehmann  adopts  Proudhon's 
epigram  that  "  Profit  is  Robbery;"  but  he  explains  that  it 
does  not  mean  that  private  property  is  in  itself  robbery,  but 
that  private  property  so  used  as  to  obtain  from  others  their 
property,  without  giving  an  equivalent  to  that  received,  is 
robbery.  State  Socialism  has  some  advocates  who  are 
worth  contending  with.  The  chief  thing  against  them  is 
that  they  are  understood  to  seek  to  impose  their  opinions 
upon  society  by  violence;  and  what  is  reasonable  in  their 
views  will  never  be  fairly  considered  by  any  who  believe 
that  violence  is  their  chosen  mode  of  persuasion.  They 
are  certainly  intolerant,  suspicious,  and  denunciatory,  of  all 
who  do  not  at  once  and  entirely  agree  with  them.     The 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


151 


J.  There 
in  popu- 
10  injury 
;  indifter- 
kind  and 
he  public 

lelivered 
nmences 
•ejudiced 
nows  all 
:onceited 
;d  some- 
the  man 
f  an  able 
abolish 
pie  is  to 
oudhon's 
IS  that  it 
Dery,  but 
ers  their 
eived,  is 
who  are 
them  is 
opinions 
in  their 
believe 
They 
y,  of  all 
■n.     The 


main  error  they  hold  to  is  the  Lassalle  doctrine  of  the  hope- 
lessness of  individual  effort,  which  co-operation  alone  con- 
futes. It  has  done  so  since  Lassalle's  days.  But  the  success 
of  co-operation  is  English.  Neither  in  Germany  nor 
America  has  the  same  success  been  witnessed.  When  co- 
operation takes  to  propagandism  in  America  the  most 
instructive  field  of  its  debates  will  be  in  the  midst  of  State 
Socialists. 

It,  however,  is  some  defence  of  working-class  State 
Socialists  that  they  do  not  stand  alone  in  their  theory.  The 
political  class  in  America,  even  its  chief  statesmen,  hold  and 
defend  theories  of  Protection,  which  is  open  State  Socialism 
in  its  worse  form,  being  the  daily  confiscation  of  the  in- 
comes of  the  great  body  of  the  people  for  the  benefit  of  a 
small  class  of  manufacturers  and  producers. 

The  most  instructive  little  works  I  met  with  in  America, 
were  the  "  Causes  of  Communism,  by  an  Average  Citizen;" 
and  a  project  of  "  A  Continental  Colony,"  published  by  the 
National  Socialists  of  Cincinnati,  and  an  elaborate  pamphlet 
by  Dr.  Van  Buren  Denslow,  of  Chicago,  a  very  able  book, 
in  which  the  political  and  communistic  theories  prevalent  in 
America  are  discussed.  Another  was  the  small  pamphlet 
already  mentioned,  entitled  Ferdinand  Lassalle's  "  Open 
Letter,"  never  seen  in  England,  but  which  has  been  trans- 
lated into  English  by  the  Germans.  It  is  the  gospel  of  the 
Socialist  Labor  Party,  and  is  to  be  found  in  the  hands  of 
workmen  wherever  that  party  prevails.  A  reply  to  this 
'  Open  Letter,"  written  with  the  brevity  and  ability  whic  h 
Lassalle  displays,  would  be  of  very  great  value.  Lassalle 
had  heard  of  Rochdale,  and  cites  the  early  efforts  of  the 


152 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


Pioneers  as  proofs  of  the  inability  of  the  working  classes 
to  raise  themselves.  Lassalle  was  shot  before  their  success 
confuted  his  argument. 

While  there  exists  in  any  country  the  intolerable  specta- 
cle of  thousands  of  persons  able  to  live  without  work,  and 
thousands  more  not  able  to  live  with  it,  there  will  always 
be  wild  theories  of  State  Socialism.  The  co-operative  so- 
lution of  the  problem  is  to  enable  the  people  to  acquire 
profit,  and  to  teach  them  how  to  keep  it  when  they  haye 
acquired  it.  This  process  is  slow,  but  agitation  is  slow,  and 
fighting  is  slow.  Half  the  weary,  conspiring  years  and  per- 
petual sacrifices  necessary  to  secure  success  by  fighting, 
would  suffice  to  accomplish  the  ends*  by  wise  and  persistent 
co-operation. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CO-OPERATIVE    EMIGRATION — AMERICAN    AND 

CANADIAN. 


Desirous  of  trustworthy  guidance,  not  only  for  co-opera- 
tive but  general  emigration,  I  sought  opportunity  of  speak- 
ing upon  the  subject  to  statesmen  in  the  two  countries  in 
which  I  travelled.  The  «  New  York  Tribune  "  of  October 
21,  1879,  stated,  under  the  head  of  "  News  of  the  Capital," 
— ^**  Mr.  Holyoake  makes  a  suggestion.  He  calls  on  Secre- 
tary Evarts  to  show  how  immigration  can  be  helped.  Mr. 
Holyoake  has  brought  to  the  attention  of  Mr.  Evarts  the 
idea  of  issuing  an  official  book,  giving  information  about  the 
public  lands  of  the  United  States,  which  can  be  circulated 
in  England  among  working-men.  Mr.  Evarts  takes  much 
interest  in  the  matter."  A  telegram  to  the  "  Tribune "  of 
the  same  date,  dated  Washington,  October  20,  stated — 
"  Last  Thursday,  Mr.  Holyoake,  accompanied  by  Colonel 
R.  G.  IngersoU,  had  an  extended  interview  with  the  Secre- 
tary of  State.  He  explained  to  Mr.  Evarts  the  advantage 
it  would  be  to  the  English  people  both  of  the  mercantile 
and  farming  classes,  if  what  he  terms  a  blue  book  were 
issued,  giving,  in  the  name  of  the  Government,  all  the  in- 
formation of  value  to  intending  immigrants,  with  regard  to 


»54 


AMONG    TUB    AMERICANS. 


the  public  lands,  and  their  quality,  price,  and  convenience  of 
access.  Mr.  Holyoake  represented  that  State  agents,  and 
the  agents  of  private  emigration  schemes,  are  now  supply- 
ing much  information  of  this  character,  but  they  are  not 
inown  to  be  trustworthy.  The  English  people,  he  said, 
know  the  American  Government,  and  would  place  confi- 
dence in  any  information  which  it  might  furnish." 

When  I  hiul  the  opportunity  of  an  interview  with  Presi- 
dent Hayes,  Mrs.  Hayes,  and  General  Sherman,  at  the 
White  House,  they  readily  entered  upon  the  consideration 
of  the  uses  of  the  suggested  book,  and  the  President  espec- 
ially expressed  Valuable  practical  opinions  thereupon.  It 
was,  I  knew,  a  matter  for  the  departments.  My  object 
was  to  explain  it  to  the  President,  so  that  when  he  was  con- 
sulted upon  the  subject  it  might  not  be  new  to  him.  To 
find  that  the  heads  of  the  State  gave  attentions  to  the  pro- 
posals of  "  a  stranger,"  and  listened  to  what  he  had  to  say 
with  a  graceful  deliberateness,  as  though  they  had  nothing 
else  on  earth  to  attend  to,  seemed  more  than  royal  courtesy 
in  a  republic. 

Being  naturally  much  interested  in  Canada,  I  had  previ- 
ously thought  it  right  to  bring  the  matter  before  the  Cana- 
dian Government.  The  "  Globe  "  of  Toronto,  in  a  tele- 
gram from  Ottawa,  dated  October  25th,  stated  that  I  had 
"held  an  interview  with  Sir  John  Macdonald,  the  Premier, 
and  the  Hon.  J.  H.  Pope,  Minister  of  Agriculture,  and 
pressed  upon  them  the  desirableness  of  the  Government 
sending  proper  information  to  Great  Britain  respecting 
Canada — such  information  as  will  be  of  practical  interest  to 
the  farming  and  artisan  classes;  and  that  I  desired  the  pub- 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


>55 


lication,  by  the  Canadian  Government,  of  a  Blue  Book, 
similar  to  that  issued  by  Lord  Clarendon,  some  years  ago, 
in  England.  Besides  the  usual  information,  the  volume 
should  mention  the  localities  in  which  special  industries  exist, 
so  that  an  artisan  of  any  particular  occupation  may 
know  precisely  where  he  will  be  likely  to  obtain  work,  and 
not  enter  the  country  perfectly  ignorant  of  the  character  of 
its  industries  and  their  location,  as  is  now  the  case.  The 
book  should  also  state  the  character  and  nationality  of  the 
labor  with  which  he  will  have  to  compete,  the  state  of  the 
labor  market,  and  the  rates  of  wages,  with,  above  all,  their 
purchasing  value."  The  Toronto  "  Globe  "  added,  "  Mr. 
Holyoake  claims  that  the  most  convincing  arguments  to  the 
prospective  emigrant,  is  to  show  him  he  can  purchase  more 
of  the  necessaries  of  life  in  Canada  for  five  dollars,  than  in 
England  with  its  equivalent,  a  sovereign.  It  was  under- 
stood the  Canadian  Government  would  give  the  subject 
their  consideration." 

The  Premier,  wishing  me  to  see  the  Minister  of  Agri- 
culture, gave  me  the  following  introduction  to  him,  dated, 
"  Department  of  the  Interior,  Canada,  Ottawa,  6th  October^ 
1879,"  addressed  to  the  Hon.  J.  H.  Pope: 

Let  me  introduce  to  you  Mr.  Charlton,  of  Chicago,  formerly  of 
Hamilton — an  old  friend  of  mine — and  Mr.  Holyoake,  a  member  of 
the  public  press  in  England.  Mr.  Holyoake  is  making  inquiries  as  to 
Canada's  capabilities  for  emigrants  from  England,  and  as  to  the  sub- 
iect  of  colonization  generally.  I  have  asked  him  to  see  you,  and  I 
am  sure  you  will  give  him  every  information,  with  all  pamphlets  and 
maps  which  may  be  of  use  to  him. 

My  stay  at  Ottawa  did  not  permit  me  to  visit  the  Marquis 
of  Lome,  who,  I  have  no  doubt,  would  not  less  have  given 


i' 
I 


156 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


attention  to  thor  subject.  It  occurred  alike  to  Mr.  Evarts 
and  Sir  John  Macdonald  that  the  Federal  Government  at 
Washington  had  no  power  to  require  any  State  to  furnish  in- 
formation necessary  for  the  national  emigrant  book  I  asked, 
and  that  the  Governor  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  was 
equally  without  power  to  command  information  from  the 
Canadian  Provinces.  My  answer  in  both  cases  was,  that 
while  I  was  aware  of  those  facts,  the  probability  was  that 
if  the  heads  of  the  Canadian  and  American  Governments 
should  give  notice  that  such  information  would  be  used  in 
the  national  volume,  if  it  was  accorded,  it  would  not  be  to 
the  interest  of  any  State  or  Province  to  be  left  out,  and  the 
compliance  would  no  doubt  be  general.  It  was  admitted 
that  it  probably  would  be  so.  Thinking  it  was  incumbent 
upon  me  to  inform  the  British  Embassy  what  I  had  been 
proposing  to  the  American  Government,  I  went,  when  in 
Washington  one  day,  down  to  the  British  Legation  for  that 
purpose.  I  explained  the  whole  matter  to  the  representa- 
tive of  the  British  Minister.  At  the  Embassy  I  thought  I 
found  some  misgiving  as  to  whether  the  Home  Govern- 
ment might  not  disapprove  of  emigration.  Probably  there 
was  a  doubt  whether  the  Embassy  should  do  anything 
which  might  be  construed  into  advising  it.  This  led  me  to 
address  his  excellency.  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  the  following 
letter,  he  being  absent  when  I  called : 

It  will  be  in  jour  excellency's  recollection  that  Lord  Clarendon, 
towards  the  close  of  his  life,, issued  three  Blue  Books  on  the  "  Condi- 
tion of  the  Laboring  Classes  Abroad,"  consisting  of  reports  from  Her 
Majesty's  secretaries  of  embassies  and  legations.  Mr.  SecretJiry 
Evarts  would  like  to  see  them.    It  might  be.  of  great  service  to  the 


Ht 
boc 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS, 


157 


people  of  Great  Britain  if  you  could  show  to  him  the  books  I  have 
named.  Either  with  these  books,  or  separately,  there  may  be  at  your 
embassy  copies  of  instructions  which,  at  Lord  Clarendon's  request,  I 
drew  up.  These  I  have  told  Mr.  Evarts  I  would  ask  you  to  show 
him  if  possible. 

In  an  interview  I  had  the  honor  to  have  with  the  President  (Mr. 
Hayes),  I  promised  to  prefer  a  request  to  you  to  show  him  the  said 
books  and  instructions. 

Her  Majesty's  Government  have  never  put  obstacles  in  the  way  or 
British  subjects  emigrating  to  America.  It  is  well  known  to  Her 
Majesty's  Government  that  the  English  people  continually  do  so,  and 
do  it  upon  doubtful,  insufficient,  and  often  misleading  information.  I 
have  asked  the  American  Government  to  do  the  English  people  the 
service  of  aftbrding  them  complete,  detailed,  and  trustworthy  infor- 
mation of  the  conditions  and  prospects  of  settlements  in  all  the  States 
of  the  American  Union,  which,  being  given  on  the  authority  of  the 
American  Government,  would  be  regarded  with  confidence  and  re- 
spect. If  you,  sir,  should  be  able  to  concur  in  this  view,  and  make 
known  your  opinion  to  the  American  Government,  it  would  be  an 
advantage  both  to  the  operative  and  the  farming  classes  of  Great 
Britain. 

The  same  representations  which  I  have  been  permitted  to  make  to 
the  American  Government  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  make  to  Sir 
John  Macdonald,  the  Premier  of  Canada,  who  was  pleased  to  say 
that  he  should  like  to  see  the  analogous  Blue  Books  I  have  named  which 
were  issued  by  Lord  Clarendon.  I  promised  to  request  the  English 
Foreign  Office  to  forward  copies  to  him,  and  to  inquire  first  of  you 
whether  you  could  forward  copies  to  him,  or  use  your  influence  at 
home  to  procure  them  to  be  sent  to  Sir  John. 

It  is  desirable  that  the  English  people  should  have  equal  opportuni- 
ties of  judging  between  the  advantages  of  emigrant  settlements, 
offered  by  the  Dominion  and  America.  I  pray  you  to  permit  this 
consideration  to  be  my  excuse  for  thus  troubling  you. 


'58 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS, 


In  due  course  Sir  Edward  Thornton  wrote  me  as  follows, 
from  the  British  Legation,  Washington,  on  November  lo, 
1879: 

In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  8th  instant,  I  regret  to  say  that  I  can 
only  find  at  this  legation  a  single  copy  of  the  two  last  of  the  reports 
on  the  condition  of  the  industrial  classes  in  foreign  countries. 

I  should,  of  course,  be  glad  to  lend  these  to  Mr.  Evarts,  for  his 

perusal,  should  he  wish  to  see  them,  but  I  cannot  part  with  them 

altogether,  as  they  belong  to  the  archives  of  this  legation  and  are 

single  copies.    Neither  can  1  send  them  to  Sir  John  Macdonald,  who, 

however,  would  find  no  difficuity  in  obtaining  copies  of  them  through 

the  Colonial  Office. 
1 
It  is  impossible  not  to  notice  the  difference  between  this 

answer  from  Sir  Edward  Thornton  to  a  British  subject, 
seeking  to  promote  an  object  of  English  interest,  and  those 
which  I  had  received,  as  a  stranger,  from  the  American  and 
Canadian  Governments.  Sir  Edward  plainly  is  not  disposed 
to  take  any  trouble  in  the  matter — I  merely  look  at  the  fact 
and  do  not  complain  of  it — he  probably  disapproved  of  the 
proposal  conveyed  to  him,  and,  if  so,  it  could  not  be  expected 
that  he  would  take  trouble  to  forward  it.  Unless  Mr. 
Evarts  told  him  that  "  he  wished  to  see  "  the  books,  it  does 
not  appear  that  they  would  be  shown  to  him.  If  Sir  John 
Macdonald  wants  them  he  must  apply  for  them  through  the 
Colonial  Office.  Any  ambassador  of  a  British  Government 
knows  very  well  that  not  more  than  one  minister  in  a  cen- 
tury arises  in  England  who  will  take  trouble  to  find  himself 
new  work.  It  is  a  great  thing  if  he  will  give  attention  to  it 
wrhen  it  is  brought  to  his  hands,  and  its  importance  made 
apparent.    Mr.  Evarts  was  quite  willing  to  consider  the 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


159 


proposal  in  question,  but  I  could  not  expect  him  to  take  the 
initiative  in  collecting  from  a  foreign  country  the  materials 
for  the  opinion  asked  of  him;  nor  was  it  likely  that  Sir 
John  Macdonald  would  take  the  trouble  of  writing  to  the 
Colonial  Office  in  England  for  these  reports  for  his  own 
perusal ;  he  had  a  right  to  expect  that  I  would  cause  them 
to  reach  him  myself.  Sir  Edward  Thornton  is  also  entirely 
silent  upon  the  remark  I  made  in  my  letter,  namely,  that 
should  he  be  able  to  concur  in  the  views  I  had  expressed  as 
to  the  desirability  of  the  emigrant  book  being  issued,  and 
would  make  krov^  >  that  opinion  to  the  American  Govern- 
ment, he  would  v  ..  .]  a  great  advantage  on  our  operative 
and  farming  classes,  since  Mr.  Evarts,  seeing  that  the 
British  minister  was  interested  in  it,  it  would  be  a  motive 
for  proceeding  with  it.  As  Sir  Edward  was  entirely  silent 
as  to  whether  he  did  concur  in  the  project,  I  presume  he 
did  not;  and,  therefore,  I  could  not  expect  him  to  do  what  I 
had  hoped  he  would — namely,  procure  himself  from  the  Col- 
onial Office  the  Blue  Books  in  question,  and  send  them  over 
to  the  State  House  to  Mr.  Evarts,  and  forward  them  from 
Washington  to  Sir  John  Macdonald,  when  his  (Sir  John's) 
attention  and  interest  would  be  further  enlisted. 

On  my  return  to  England  I  went  down  to  the  Foreign 
Office,  when  Lord  Barrington  kindly  permitted  me  to  ex- 
plain to  him  the  grounds  upon  which  I  requested  two  sets 
(six  volumes  in  all)  of  the  aforesaid  English  Blue  Books. 
A  few  days  afterwards  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury  very 
obligingly  sent  them  to  my  chamberjs.  As  these  volumes 
did  not  contain  the  personal  instructions  to  Consuls,  it 
became  necessary  to  write  to  Earl  Granville,  who  had  by 


i6o 


AMONG   THE   AMBRTCANS. 


that  time  succeeded  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury  as  Foreign 
Minister.  After  reciting  necessary  particulars  touching  the 
Blue  Books  in  question  of  1 870-1-2, 1  proceeded  to  state 
that  Lord  Salisbury  had  kindly  sent  me  two  Sets  of  these 
issues,  which  I  have  promised  to  send  to  the  Governments 
of  Washington  and  Canada.  When  these  books  were 
issued,  a  copy  of  instructions  for  their  compilation  was  sup- 
plied to  Her  Majesty's  Consular  and  Diplomatic  Agents 
abroad ;  and  that  I  had  applied  to  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  at 
the  British  Embassy  at  Washington,  for  copies  of  these  in- 
structions for  Mr.  Evarts  and  Sir  John  Macdonald ;  but  Sir 
Edward  was  uhable  to  find  a  copy  at  the  Embassy.  If 
they  exist  at  the  Foreign  Office,  and  his  lordship  would 
order  two  copies  to  be  sent  me  for  this  purpose,  I  should  be 
much  obliged. 

In  due  course  Mr.  T.  V.  Lister,  on  the  directions  of  Earl 
Granville,  forwarded  me  a  copy  of  the  two  documents  re- 
quired. I  fear  it  must  have  cost  the  Foreign  Office  some 
trouble  to  find  them.  There  were  impressions  that  they  no 
longer  existed.  I  have  still  to  apply  for  another  copy  for 
the  American  Government.  Since  the  accession  of  General 
Garfield  to  the  Presidential  chair,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
communicate  with  him  on  the  subject.  Professor  Roberts, 
of  the  agricultural  department  of  the  Cornell  University, 
has  promised  me  to  draw  up  a  set  of  instructions  necessary 
to  elicit  the  information  which  will  be  required  by  immi- 
grants, supplementary  to  any  questions  I  may  suggest. 
Professor  Roberts  himself  has  knowledge,  beyond  any  gen  • 
tleman  I  conversed  with  in  America,  of  the  information 
emigrants  most  need. 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


161I 


*  oreign 
ing  the 
to  state 
)f  these 
•nments 
:s  were 
ras  sup- 
Agents 
nton,  at 
hese  in- 
but  Sir 
;sy.  If 
I  would 
ould  be 


These  details  are  given  to  account  for  delay  in  not  furn- 
ishing the  complete  information  I  promised  the  two  Govern- 
ments named.  The  o'  ject  sought  seems  to  me  to  warrant 
the  expenditure  both  of  time  and  means  as  far  as  I  am  able 
to  employ  them.  As  respects  co-operative  emigration,  cer- 
tain particulars  given  in  the  address  I  delivered  before  the 
Co-operative  Guild  at  Exeter  Hall,  London,  in  February, 
1879,  will  be  found  in  another  chapter. 


of  Earl 

snts  re- 

e  some 

ley  no 

opy  for 

eneral 

sary  to 

oberts, 

versity, 

cessary 

immi- 

uggest. 

y  gen- 

mation 


CHATER  XIII. 


WAYSIDE  INCIDENTS. 


UNTIL  I  went  to  America  I  had  no  proper  idea  what 
my  personal  appearance  was.  Tlie  "Kansas  City 
Times"  thought  me  "  to  be  about  sixty  years  of  age,  of 
medium  height,  blue  grey  eyes,  with  side  whiskers  (which 
I  never  had),  and  hair  which  has  been  touched  by  the  finger 
of  time,"  which  was  true.  The  "Index"  described  me  as  a 
"  venerable"  author.  The  "Boston  Post"  regarded  me  as 
"  being  between  fifty-five  and  sixty  years  of  age,  of  medium 
height,  and  well  proportioned,  hair,  moustache  and  impe- 
rial almost  white,  firm  set  mouth,  small,  grey,  and  very 
piercing  eyes."  The  "Boston  Herald"  found  I  had  "snow 
white  hair,  a  chin-beard,  and  in  looks  and  manners,  much 
resembling  ex-Governor  Rice."  When  I  afterwards  met 
the  ex-Governor  at  the  Christian  Union,  I  was  perplexed, 
not  knowing  which  was  which.  The  "Boston  Daily  Adver- 
tiser regarded  me  as  "  of  medium  height,  well  formed,  and 
of  good  weight."  Weight,  I  observed,  is  somewhat  an 
element  of  rhetoric  in  the  American  mind.  The  "Cincin- 
nati Daily  Gazette"  described  me  as  looking  older  than  I 
was,  but,  however,  having  the  appearance  of  robust  age, 
with  calm  demeanor,  and  quiet  voice.     The  "Philadelphia 


164 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


Times"  began  its  report  of  my  address  in  St.  George's 
Hall  thus: — "Bearing,  though  not  bending,  under  the 
weight  of  seventy  years.  Notwithstanding  his  age,  he 
seems  as  fresh,  physically,  as  a  well-preserved  man  of  fifty 
or  fifty-five  years."  One  reporter  thought  me,  "when 
excited,  a  little  inclined  to  stammer."  A  Florence  writer 
said  he  thought,  as  a  speaker,  I  was  "ofF-hand,  but  refined 
in  the  choice  of  words."  I  cease  the  citation  of  these  de- 
scriptions, which  will  be  less  interesting  to  the  reader  than 
to  the  writer,  and  because  the  amusement  arose  from  the 
contrast  with  other  qualities  assigned  to  me  which  it  is  not 
my  place  to  quote.  No  doubt  my  speaking  at  times  was 
pretty  much  like  stammering,  since  I  always  think  it  re- 
spectful to  an  audience  to  cast  about  to  find  the  proper  word, 
instead  of  throwing  at  their  heads  the  first  that  comes  to 
hand,  although  it  may  be  an  unfitting  one;  it  being  in  my 
opinion  a  less  waste  of  time  to  an  audience  to  hear  nothing 
than  to  hear  the  wrong  thing.  As  Lord  Chancellor  Camp- 
bell used  to  say,  "  It  is  better  to  go  to  a  house  where  they 
give  you  bad  wine  than  where  you  have  to  listen  to  a  bad 
dialect."  In  America  I  had  to  speak,  like  Mark  Antony, 
"right  on,"  but  not  with  his  success,  because  I  did  not 
expect  to  speak  at  all,  and  except  at  a  few  times  when  I  did 
not  think  of  the  audience  or  the  place,  and  thought  only  of 
the  subject,  I  do  not  believe  I  did  deserve  the  credit  that 
was  given  to  me  by  hospitable  critics.  It  is  not  possible  to 
any,  except  orators  by  nature,  to  speak  always  as  they 
would  wish,  but  it  is  possible  to  anyone  to  say  exactly  what 
he  ought  to  say  if  he  has  the  courage,  which  the  late  Earl 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


'65 


Russell  had,  of  trusting  to  the  audience  to  tolerate  defects  of 
manner  in  consideration  of  the  fair  intention  of  the  matter. 

Americans  I  found  perplex  English  -visitors  by  bearing 
with  wondrous  patience  things  which  would  make  us  all 
indignant  and  probably  mad.  The  reason  is  that  in  Eng- 
land we  can  seldom  get  redress  save  by  explosions;  while 
in  America  the  people  know  that  whenever  an  evil  becomes 
very  tiresome,  and  they  have  time  to  attend  to  it,  it  has 
"  got  to  go,"  and  it  does  go  then.  A  man  will  live  and  die 
in  the  precincts  of  London  Bridge  and  never  go  into  the 
Tower,  which  stands  hard  by.  Since  he  can  go  into  it  when 
he  pleases,  he  never  goes  into  it  at  all.  But  if  the  doors . 
were  closed,  and  the  public  excluded,  he  would  make  a 
violent  speech  at  a  public  meeting  convened  to  get  the 
Tower  open.  So  it  seems  to  be  with  Americans;  they  put 
up  with  great  evils  because  they  can  alter  them — evils 
which  would  soon  cause  a  revolution  if  they  were  unchange- 
able. 

One  day  I  paid  a  visit,  with  two  friends,  to  New  Rochelle, 
to  explore  the  lands  voted  by  Congress,  in  the  last  century, 
to  a  famous  Englishman — Thomas  Paine,  whose  political 
writings  had  so  signally  promoted  the  Independence  of  the 
United  States.  No  other  Englishman  ever  achieved  like 
distinction.  In  his  own  country  Paine  ranked  with  Junius 
and  Burke  as  a  foremost  political  writer  dealing  with  prin- 
ciples of  Government.  In  America  his  pen  accomplished 
almost  as  much  as  the  sword  of  Washington.  In  Paris  he 
was  the  wisest  counsellor  of  the  Revolution.  In  England 
his  liberty  was  in  jeopardy;  in  America  his  life  was  im- 
perilled ;  in  France  he  was  condemned  to  death.     I  found 


i66 


AMONG   TIIR    AMKUICAN8. 


liiH  hctuitifiil  eMate  entire  and  unchanged.  I  walked  on  the 
terrace  where  lu;  meilitateil,  and  sat  in  the  room  in  which 
he  died,  wliere  ohjects  of  interent  remain  upon  which  he 
laHt  looitetl.  No  Kn<j;liHhman  ever  rendered  services  so 
splendid  to  three  nations,  or  was  so  ill  requited  in  all. 

Like  others,  I  had  heard  it  said  that  Americans  in  Europe 
y;ave  ohservers  the  iileu  ot*  a  decayinjj  race.  That  must  he 
hecause  niany  heinjj^  invalids  come  to  Europe  for  chanj^c  of 
climate;  others  hecause  they  have  lost  flhre  in  attaining' 
fortune  to  enahle  them  to  travel.  Instead  of  heinjy  all 
attenuated  I  found  men  atid  women  of  vijijor  and  solidity  of 
frame  very  jijeneral.  1  askeil  Dr.  Oliver,  of  Hostr-,  whom 
I  found  to  he  a  philosophic  physician,  what,  in  his  opinion 
were  the  physical  prospects  of  the  race.  He  thouyjht  that 
three  generations,  or  a  hundred  years,  were  needful  to 
acclimatize  a  European  family  to  the  new  country,  that  is, 
supposing  they  do  not  conform  to  rational  conditions  of  life 
there. 

An  English  traveller  will  to  the  end  of  time  be  astonished 
at  the  simplicity,  precision,  and  security  of  the  express  sys- 
tem by  which  luggage  in  America  is  transmitted.  In  Eng- 
land the  care  of  luggage  is  a  very  serious  operation  for  the 
traveller.  You  are  requircil  to  sec  yourself  that  it  is  put  into 
the  van,  and  it  does  not  at  all  follow  then  that  it  will  remain 
there.  At  the  tirst  junction  you  may  sec  it  on  the  platform 
again,  or  the  van  itself  may  be  detached  and  sent  to  another 
part  of  the  country,  and  you  are  told  you  should  have  looked 
after  it.  In  America  a  civil,  quiet  person  appears,  who  iisks 
you  where  you  will  have  your  luggage  sent  to,  and  he  gives 
you  a  metal  ticket  with  the  name  of  that  place,  and  you 


AMONG   THE   AMBItlCANS. 


167 


leave  the  station  and  proceed  unencumbered  on  your  journey. 
DaySf  or  even  weeks  after,  probably  3,000  miles  from  the 
place  you  last  lost  sight  ofyour  portmanteaus  and  their  pre- 
cious contents,  the  train  stops  at  a  prairie  station  when  there 
issues  from  an  official  ranch  in  a  wood,  or  some  unnoticed 
depot  in  the  rocks,  ii  baggage  master,  who  has  upon  his  arm 
the  corresponding  check  to  that  which  you  have  in  your 
purse,  and  your  luggage  is  there  exactly  as  when  you  last 
saw  it. 

Another  thing  surprising  to  me,  was  the  artistic  facility 
with  which  letters  were  produced  on  placards  and  signs. 
Shopkeepers  had  a  black-board  at  their  door  upon  which 
they  wrote  with  chalk  the  particulars  of  their  commodities. 
Near  the  "  Tribune  "  buildings.  New  York,  a  man  would 
come  out  of  the  shop  and  write  up  the  quality  and  price  of 
his  oysters.  The  words  were  written  with  such  graphic 
beauty,  freedom,  and  rapidity,  that  the  board  was  worth 
buying  and  framing,  and  hanging  up  among  your  pictures. 

On  the  railroads  in  Massachusetts  the  tickets  were  ex- 
changed in  the  carriages  for  a  card  containing  the  names  of 
all  the  stations  on  that  line,  and  the  distance  from  the  town 
from  which  you  set  out,  and  the  reverse  list  showed  the  dis- 
tance from  every  towr  to  which  you  were  going. 

All  this  was  gratuitous  courtesy  to  the  passengers.  No 
railway  in  England  ever  does  it.  Of  conveniences  to  trav- 
ellers, prompted  by  competition,  we  have,  like  other  coun- 
tries, many;  but  except  the  Midland,  no  railway  is  commonly 
believed  ever  to  have  introduced  a  single  convenience  from 
pure  consideration  for  the  pleasure  or  comfort  of  the  passen- 
gers.   The  railways  will  not  sell  tickets  until  within  a  few 


i68 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


minutes  of  the  starting  of  the  train,  and  then  you  have  to 
peep  through  a  little  hole,  and  whistle  through  it  any  ques- 
tion you  have  to  put,  without  being  able  to  see  with  whom 
you  are  dealing,  or  what  change  he  is  giving  you,  until  it  is 
thrust  outside  the  aperture. 

Railways  assume  that  every  passenger  is  a  thief  who 
meditates  robbery  with  violence,  and  the  railway  clerk  must 
transact  his  business  in  self  protection  through  a  loophole. 
If  a  tradesman  sold  tickets  he  would  never  think  of  keeping 
his  shop  shut  up  the  greater  part  of  the  day.  The  post- 
master-general might  as  well  require  every  applicant  for  a 
stamp  to  make  a  declaration  that  he  has  written  his  letter 
before  he  sold  him  one,  to  put  upon  it,  as  the  railway  com- 
pany compel  you  to  declare  that  you  intend  to  travel  by  the 
next  train  before  they  sell  you  a  ticket.  Their  assumption 
is  that  the  public  are  fools,  and  will  jump  into  every  train 
that  comes  up,  and  go  everywhere  unless  they  are  pre- 
vented, ^n  America  everybody  is  self-acting.  This,  no 
doubt,  tends  to  increase  crimes  of  violence  there  among  the 
uncivilized  emigrants,  since  a  man  who  has  got  to  act  for 
himself  will  act  wrongly  if  he  has  not  found  out  how  to  act 
rightly ;  and  if  he  has  a  taste  for  wrong  acting  he  will  plead 
the  necessity  of  self-acting  as  an  excuse  for  it.  But  this 
does  riot  last  long,  for  other  self-acting  persons  put  him 
down. 

At  Narrowsburgh  I  found  the  hotel  dinners  better  than 
those  at  the  Station  Hotel  at  Syracuse,  which  had  a  good 
repute.  I  told  the  proprietor  at  Narrowsburgh  so,  which 
gratified  him.  I  always  made  it  a  point  when  I  found  an 
hotel-keeper  had  done  well  by  his  guests,  to  say  so  to  him. 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


169 


Tlie  acknowledgment  was  due  to  him,  and  always  gave 
pleasure.  He  is  a  churl  who  is  well  used  and  never  owns  it. 
Besides,  I  thought  it  might  make  things  better  for  the  next 
passengers  who  arrived  out  there.  In  England  I  have 
spoken  to  four  waiters  in  a  fashionable  hotel,  none  being  en- 
gaged. Each  refused  to  attend  to  me,  as  it  was  not  his 
duty  to  await  at  that  table.  Nor  could  anyone  recei\  ?  or 
convey  the  order  to  the  proper  one.  I  must  wait  until  he 
came,  however  long  it  might  be,  and  when  he  appeared,  as 
I  did  not  know  him,  I  had  still  to  wait  until  he  condescended 
to  address  me,  as  it  would  give  renewed  offence  to  address 
him  if  he  was  not  the  proper  person. 

In  America  I  never  addressed  a  colored  waiter,  who,  if 
he  did  not  belong  to  my  table,  would  civilly  communicate 
with  the  one  who  did.  Indeed,  not  merely  civilly  do  it,  he 
would  show  a  pleasant  willingness,  as  though  he  thought 
the  object  of  being  a  waiter  was  to  make  things  agreeable 
to  the  visitor.  Nor  did  they  show  that  they  wanted  any- 
thing from  me.  The  colored  attendant,  who  made  my  bed 
in  the  car  and  brushed  my  boots  every  morning,  let  me 
leave  without  giving  me  any  impression  that  I  had  o>  paid 
him  the  quarter  dollar  due  to  him  by  custom,  of  which  I  was 
not  aware. 

Chautauqua  Lake  is  a  famous  place  for  the  congregation 
of  prophets.  It  is  a  general  campaigning  quarter  for  prop- 
agandists of  the  other  world  and  of  this.  The  shore  is 
covered  with  tents  of  speculation  and  of  practice.  The  ard- 
ent take  their  wives  and  families  there  and  spend  their 
annual  vacation  time  between  the  pleasures  of  the  lake  and 
the  progress  of  principles.     The  bright   lake   is   eighteen 


lyo 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


miles  long,  and  requires  a  steamer  to  cross  it,  so  that  there  is 
ample  space  for  airing  the  most  advanced  ideas.  It  lies  in  a 
corner  of  New  York  State,  some  500  miles  or  more  from 
the  city.  Those  who  go  to  convention  there  have  in  view 
to  put  forth  their  ideas  of  things  in  general,  and  generally  do 
it.  For  myself  I  could  listen  to  all  subjects,  but  did  not 
want  to  listen  to  them  all  at  once.  There  were,  however, 
a  good  many  persons  there  who  seemed  able  to  do  it.  I 
was  surprised  to  find  the  Liberal  Convention  I  attended  a 
great  "  pow-pow,"  with  no  definite  plan  of  procedure  such 
as  would  be  observed  in  England.  As  I  arrived  early  at 
the  Lake  I  drew  up  the  following  resolutions,  as  the  report- 
ers had  nothing  to  report: 

We,  the  undersigned,  having  arrived  at  Chautauqua 
Lake  a  day  before  everybody  else,  do  resolve  ourselves  into 
a  Primary  Convention,  setting  forth  the  following  objects: 

1.  That  the  President-Tof  the  Convention  be  requested  to 
define  its  objects,  and  state  them  as  briefly  as  possible. 

2.  That  as  many  of  the  speakers  be  requested  to  speak 
as  possible  to  those  points. 

3.  That  each  speaker  be  allowed  reasonable  time  for  de- 
nouncing everybody  and  everything,  and  afterwards  it  is 
hoped  that  everyone  will  proceed  to  business. 

4.  That  if  more  imputation  be  desired  by  any  speakers 
the  proprietor  of  the  hotel  shall  be  requested  to  set  apart  a 
Howling  Room,  to  which  all  such  persons  shall  retire, 
attended  by  as  many  reporters  as  can  be  induced  to  accom- 
pany them. 

5.  That  it  is.  not  intended  here  to  disparage  imputations  or 
irrelevancies,  which  are  always  entertaining  if  well  done 


AMONG   THB   AMERICANS. 


171 


but  to  prevent  the  time  of  the  Convention  being  consumed 
upon  persons  instead  of  principles. 

6.  That  clear  notice  be  given  to  speakers  that  this  is  not  a 
convention  for  the  discussion  of  every  subject  under  the  sun, 
but  of  those  only  proposed  from  the  chair. 

These  resolutions  were  signed  by  G.  J.  Holyoake,  L. 
Masquerier,  H.  J.  Thomas,  H.  L.  Green.  Of  course  they 
were  directed  against  those  whom  Col.  IngersoU  happily 
calls  "  the  Fool  Friends  of  Progress,"  who  hang  about  cler- 
ical as  well  as  lay  associations,  who  create  enemies  by 
wanton  imputations,  and  render  good  principles  ridiculous 
by  eccentricity  of  advocacy.  Mr.  Green,  whose  name 
appears  above,  was  the  Liberal  secretary — one  of  those 
wise,  prompt,  able  men  who  know  how  to  be  earnest  without 
unwise  zeal,  and  who  seek  to  conduct  a  movement  so  that 
it  shall  command  the  respect  of  adversaries.  Elder  F.  W. 
Evans,  the  principal  of  the  Shakers  at  Mount  Lebanon — a 
pleasant  speaking,  genial  person,  agreed  with  the  resolutions, 
but  fenced  about  them  more  than  an  Elder  should,  and 
could  not  be  induced  to  sign  them ;  not  that  he  had  any  de- 
nunciations to  make,  for  he  was  a  model  of  pleasant-mind- 
edness,  but  he  was  bent  upon  irrelevancy  himself.  The 
resolutions  were  printed  in  the  "  Bradford  Era,"  the  chief 
paper  in  those  parts,  and  were  considered  to  have  been  use- 
ful to  the  convention,  which,  unlike  American  conventions 
in  general,  had  nothing  in  common  save  the  unity  of  mis- 
cellaneousness,  with  the  right  of  imputation  to  be  used  with 
or  without  discretion.  The  President  could  not  state  a  defi- 
nite plan  of  procedure  or  questions  of  debate,  for  he  had 
never  thought  of  them,  and  he  could  not  invent  any,  for  he 


172 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS, 


had  the  inaugural  address  In  his  pocket,  not  only  written 
but  printed,  and  bound  up  in  book  form ;  and,  to  do  justice 
to  the  versatility  of  his  knowledge,  the  address  related  to 
most  things  which  have  ever  been  mooted  in  this  world. 
The  reader  must  not  suppose  that  there  were  not  wise  men 
and  wise  women  at  the  Chautaqua  convention  because  men- 
tion has  been  made  here  mainly  of  the  other  sort.  At  the 
town  of  Bolton,  in  England,  I  saw  lately  an  announcement 
at  a  good-looking  chapel  that  a  sermon  would  be  preached 
by  the  "  Shaggy  Prophet."  I  saw  no  "  Shaggy  Prophet " 
at  the  Chautaqua  convention. 

When  leaving  the  great  Propagandist  Lake  I  was  told  to 
go  by  way  of  Dunkirk,  then  I  should  "  strike "  Buffalo. 
The  phrase  being  new  to  me  it  at  first  suggested  an  assault. 
On  disclaiming  any  intention  of  "  striking  "  Buffalo  myself, 
as  it  had  done  nothing  to  me,  I  found  it  was  a  mere  pictur- 
esque term  of  travel,  meaning  to  impinge.  The  "  blocks  " 
of  New  York  at  first  caused  me  trouble.  On  asking  my 
way  in  the  streets  I  was  told  that  the  place  I  wanted  was 
one,  or  three  blocks  off,  as  the  case  might  be.  N(it  in  the 
least  knowing  what  was  meant,  I  asked  what  is  a  "block?" 
He  whom  I  asked  was  not  at  all  prepared  with  a  definition. 
Fearing  he  would  think  me  wantonly  ignorant,  I  said  "  I 
come  from  England,  where  we  liave  plenty  of  blockheads, 
but  no  blocks."  Then  he  kindly  said  a  block  was  a  corner. 
That  helped  me  but  little,  since  some  blocks  have  no  corner 
and  some  blocks  are  all  corners.  It  was  some  time  before 
I  discovered  that  a  block  meant  part  of  a  street  intersected 
by  other  streets,  and  meant  the  whole  block  of  buildings 
standing  between  two  stic.its. 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


written 
lo  justice 
elated  to 
is  world, 
vise  men 
ise  men^ 

At  the 
ncement 
)reached 
rophet " 

s  told  to 
Buffalo. 

assault. 

myself, 
i  pictur- 
blocks  " 
:ing  my 
ted  was 
t  in  the 
block.?" 
finition. 
said  «  I 
kheads, 
corner. 

corner 

before 
rsected 
lild.nqrs 


m 


It  was  when  travelling  alone  on  the  Erie  Railway  that  I 
was  first  invited  to  enter  into  business,  I  was  looking  over 
"  Frank  Leslie  "  on  the  day  when  the  engraving  appeared 
in  which  I  was  taken  in  the  act  of  being  interviewed,  when 
a  bright-looking  newsboy  came  up  and  asked,  "  Will  you 
trade,  sir?"  The  question  confused  me,  being  quite  unpre- 
pared for  the  proposal.  At  first  I  said,  "  I  have  nothing  to 
sell."  Next,  tiiat "  I  was  not  in  business,"  adding  some 
years  ago  I  was  a  bookseller  in  the  city  of  London,  but 
since  that  time  I  had  not  been  in  "  trade."  "  I  am  not  for 
buying,"  he  answered.  "  Then  what  is  the  matter  with 
you?"  I  asked.  "What  do  you  mean  by  "'  trading?'"  He 
said,  "you  bought  a  *  Frank  Leslie'  from  me;  now  I  am 
asked  for  one,  and  I  have  not  one  left.  I  have  only  a  'Har- 
per '  (a  similarly  illustrated  paper.)  "  You  have  read  *  Les- 
lie,' and  I  will  give  you  a  *  Harper '  for  it.  You  will  then 
have  had  two  papers,  paying  only  for  one,  and  I  shall  sell 
two  papers  instead  of  one."  The  lad  had  a  manifest  turn 
for  business. 

The  most  advantageous  opening  I  saw  in  jA^erica  for  an 
enterprising  stranger,  was  that  of  polishing  shoes.  I  found 
that  lo  cents,  or  5d.  in  English  money,  was  the  least  sum 
expected  for  that  operation.  The  entire  capital  necessary 
tor  the  business,  including  brushes,  blacking,  a  mat,  a  stand, 
and  a  chair,  would  not  exceed  five  dollars  {£i).  From  this 
moderate  outlay  a  clever  operator  might  look  for  a  return  of 
JC2,cxx)  a  year.  I  made  the  calculation  when  in  the  hands 
of  one  of  these  happy  artists  one  night  on  the  Fall  River 
boat.  A  swift-handed  mechanic  can  polish  two  pairs  of 
shoes  in  five  minutes,  and  that  is  allowing  him  double  the 


-.jtor  •!fc»c-r.:»xa.'atimf  aTr.,-^ 


>74 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


time  a  business  man  in  New  York  requires  to  eat  his  e.in- 
ner.  This  would  give  twenty-four  operations  in  an  hour, 
which,  at  5cl.  each,  would  produce  los.,  and  twelve  hours 
industry  per  day  would  produce  £6,  Mechanics  told  me 
that  they  worked  twelve  and  fourteen  hours  per  day  in  the 
mills  (much  longer  than  they  worked  in  England)  so  that 
twelve  hours  would  be  an  average  day  for  this  business,  and 
365  times  £6  would  exceed  jCZjCXX)  per  year.  Supposing 
bright  times,  when  the  supply  of  dull-looking  boots  would  be 
low,  and  the  artist  would  work  only  half  time,  still  the  gain 
of  jCi,ooo  per, year  from  Xi  of  capital  is  not  so  bad.  As 
most  persons  I  saw,  abroad  or  in  hotels,  seemed  engaged  in 
having  their  boots  blacked,  I  judged  this  to  be  one  of  the 
most  hopeful  pursuits  open  to  strangers  in  the  States.  An 
American  lady  told  me  that  "  I  might  as  well  argue  that  be- 
cause a  clever  dentist  gets  a  guinea  for  drawing  a  tooth,  and 
can  draw  two  a  minute,  that  he  could  therefore  earn  120 
guineas  an  hour,  and  acquire  a  considerable  fortune  in  a 
year.  But  the  patients  are  not  always  at  hand  in  sufficient 
numbers,  and  have  not  always  a  guinea  in  their  pockets." 
There  is  some  truth  in  this.  Nevertheless,  since  we  can 
black  boots  in  London,  and  polisli  them  well  at  a  penny  per 
pair,  ulacking  them  at  fivepence  per  pair  (with  less  labor 
owing  to  the  greater  brightness  of  the  American  climate) 
must  be  a  good  off-hand  business,  as  times  ago. 

Ice  water  (which  is  everywhere  to  be  had,  is  pleasant  and 
refreshing  beyond  all  other  obtainable  drinks  in  the  hot  sea- 
sons) and  lager  beer  seem  to  be  superseding  the  spirituous 
drinks  which  produced  so  much  danger  formerly.  The 
brightness  of  the  climate  and  the  freshness  of  the  prairie  air 


AMONG   TUB   AMERICANS. 


m 


hi8  *..in- 
m  hour, 
;e  hours 
told  me 
ly  in  the 
)  so  that 
less,  and 
ipposinjj 
vould  be 
the  gain 
>ad.     As 
gaged  in 
le  of  the 
tes.    An 
that  be- 
)Oth,  and 
arn  120 
une  in  a 
efficient 
)ockets." 
we  can 
;nny  per 
ss  labor 
climate) 

sant  and 
hot  sea- 
)irituous 
|y.  The 
airie  air 


are  a  species  of  wine  in  themselves.  The  celerity  with 
which  all  things  move  in  America — the  ceaseless  busyness 
of  the  people — make  temperance  a  necessity  of  daily  life 
to  Americans;  without  observing  it,  they  die  like  Indians, 
being  merely  a  little  longer  about  it.  There  is  speculation 
all  over  the  United  States.  In  some  cities  men  will  risk 
nine-tenths  of  their  fortune.  In  others  they  will  risk  every 
cent  they  liave.  There  needs  no  physician  to  discover  that 
there  cannot  be  good  digestion  in  such  cases,  and  if  spirit 
drinking  be  added  there  is  no  need  to  invoke  the  climate  to 
account  for  fluctuations  in  longevity. 

During  the  months  I  spent  in  America  I  fell  in  with  only 
two  persons  who  struck  me  as  being  drunk.  One  was  a 
well-dressed  ruffian,  whom  I  thought  intended  to  rob  me. 
We  met  in  a  street  car  the  first  time  I  entered  one.  We 
were  alone.  He  wanted  to  know  where  I  was  going  to. 
I  answered  the  question,  my  destination  being  to  me  quite 
an  unknown  place.  To  my  surprise  he  knew  the  person 
and  the  place,  and  named  them  "  straight  away."  He  was 
not  a  man  to  take  the  refusal  of  an  answer,  and  I  did  not 
want  to  lie  the  first  thing  on  arrivin^f  in  a  new  country. 
When  he  left  me  it  was  with  my  full  consent.  The  other 
was  a  person  of  unusually  grotesque  movements — nothing 
more.  One  evening  I  was  sitting  in  the  entrance  hall  of 
the  hotel  where  I  resided,  watching  mankind  about,  and 
smoking,  when  the  smallest  man  I  met  in  the  country,  came 
and  sat  in  the  seat  next  to  me.  He  was  dressed  in  a  neat 
suit  of  black;  he  was  quite  dapper,  silent,  motionless,  and  I 
thought  melancholy.  The  man  was  almost  as  small  as  a 
snufF-box,  and  slender  as  a  cane.    His  face  was  sallow,  his 


176 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


eyes  were  small ;  his  most  conspicuous  feature,  which  cer- 
tainly was  conspicuous,  was  a  well-formed  nose,  large 
enough  to  work  problems  in  Euclid  on  the  sides.  After 
some  time  he  opened  his  mouth,  when  I  saw  the  largest 
aperture  I  had  ever  beheld  in  a  human  head;  and  he 
deliberately  put  into  it  a  quid  of  tobacco,  which  seemed  to 
me  as  large  as  a  child's  foot.  As  it  was  the  first  and  only 
time  I  witnessed  that  operation,  perhaps  it  impressed  me 
more  than  it  should.  When  he  was  recomposed  into  the 
the  state  of  quiesence  in  which  I  first  had  seen  him,  I 
thought  I  would  speak  to  him  to  learn  whether  he  was 
human.  Near  at  hand  were  two  theatres,  one  of  them  I 
knew  from  a  circumstance  of  personal  and  historic  interest 
to  me,  but  was  ignorant  which  it  was,  and  I  asked  my  silent 
friend  in  black  if  he  could  tell  me,  when  I  found  he  could  be 
offensive.  He  treated  my  inquiry  as  though  I  could  not  be 
ignorant  of  the  place  which,  indeed,  was  the  next  door.  He 
probably  did  not  observe  that  I  was  a  stranger,  and  might 
be  ignorant  of  what  was  notorious  to  everyone  else,  and 
thought  I  was  jesting  with  him.  He  moved  himself  close 
to  me — he  put  his  knees  upon  me.  I  thought  he  was  going 
to  climb  up  me.  His  weight  was  not  serious,  as  I  thought 
that  I  could  blow  him  away,  but  he  acted  like  a  human 
musquito,  and  it  was  not  easy  to  get  free  from  him.  I  con- 
cluded he  had  been  drinking,  as  he  began  to  question  me 
with  incoherent  volubility.  I  fell  back  upon  my  old  rule 
that  there  must  be  two  persons  to  a  quarrel,  and  I  elected 
not  to  be  one,  since  even  a  madman  cannot  continue  to  be 
excited  when  there  is  nothing  to  irritate  him.  Silence  is  a 
source  of  confusion  to  the  impetuous,  as  nobody  can  keep 


AMONG   THB   AMERICANS. 


»77 


ich  cer- 
,  large 

After 

largest 

and  he 

;med  to 

id  only 

ised  me 

nto  the 

him,  I 

he  was 

them  I 

interest 

ly  silent 

:ould  be 

1  not  be 

3or.  He 

i  might 

se,  and 

;lf  close 

is  going 

thought 

human 

I  con- 
ion  me 
)ld  rule 
elected 
je  to  be 
nee  is  a 
an  keep 


up  a  conversation  with  a  tree.  I  took  out  a  new  cigar,  and 
went  to  the  buffet  to  get  a  light,  and  took  care  not  to  return 
to  the  tarantula  in  the  black  coat,  who,  prior  to  the  last 
glass  but  one,  was  I  doubt  not,  a  bright  and  civil  gentleman. 
My  intention  was  to  visit  North  Alabama ;  but  Memphis 
lay  close  there,  where  the  yellow  A  ver  was  active,  and  as  I 
did  not  feel  I  wanted  the  yellow  fever,  I  never  went  nearer 
Memphis  than  St.  Louis.  Several  persons  who  knew  the 
district  well,  and  who  had  resided  there  spoke  to  me  favor- 
ably of  it.  I  learned,  on  British  official  authority,  that  there 
are  large  districts  of  Alabama  where  labor  is  scarce  com- 
pared with  other  parts  of  America.  The  State  of  Alabama 
contains,  but  one  million  of  population,  though  there  is  land 
enough  to  support  ten  millions.  The  colored  people  have 
not  learned  to  live  under  independent  industrial  conditions. 
Like  the  English  laborer,  when  feudalism  was  abolished, 
the  habit  of  being  kept  still  clings  to  them;  and  being  in 
debt  is  not  the  same  trouble  to  many  colored  men  as  it  is  to 
white  men  as  a  rule — though  it  must  be  owned  that  there 
are  white  men  in  many  countries  who  are  not  much  trou- 
bled about  it  either.  It  is  also  objected  that  the  colored  men 
cannot  be  depended  upon  to  remain  in  their  situations,  and 
will  leave  the  plantation  when  most  needed,  which  occurs 
at  times  among  workmen  not  colored.  A  rising  mining 
town  named  Birmingham  exists  in  North  Alabama.  For 
many  years  past  a  great  many  miners  have  settled  there 
from  England  and  Wales,  and  are  doing  well  and  develop- 
ing the  richest  of  the  coal  lands.  With  prudence  anyone 
can  keep  himself  in  Alabama,  but  without  prudence  it  cannot 
be  done.  The  prudence  consists  in  avoiding  undue  exposure 


178 


AMONG   THB   AMERICANS. 


after  dark.  The  Germans  have  learned  to  do  it.  They 
have  foiuided  a  colony  in  this  neighborhood.  The  Germans 
get  along  well  in  this  State,  and  there  are  large  numbers  of 
them  in  every  town.  The  hill  country  of  Alabama  bears 
the  name  of  the  "  Land  of  Rest."  Consul  Cridland  reports 
that  "  the  climate  of  this  district  or  colony  is  said  to  be  very 
healthyf  and  to  this  fact  is  attributed  much  of  its  rapid 
growth  juid  success.  Good  water  abounds,  and  the  site  is 
703  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  Epidemics  are  unknown 
and  fevers,  rare.  The  summers  are  not  oppressive,  nights 
cool,  the  winter  short  and  mild.  Snow  seldom  falls,  and 
when  it  does,  Quickly  disappears.  N'^w  settlers,  mostly 
German,  continue  to  arrive  daily,  and  the  population  is 
steadily  increasing,  also  in  prosperity.  The  officials  of  the 
South  and  North  Alabama  Railroad  are  warm  friends  of 
the  colony,  and  do  all  in  their  power  to  encourage  immigra- 


n 


tion. 

They  make  things  plain  in  America.  The  "  New  York 
Herald  "  published  a  page  containing  a  series  of  broad  black 
lines,  showing  the  comparative  length  of  68  of  the  states 
and  territories  of  America  and  the  principal  countries  of 
Europe,  omitting  Russia  and  Alaska.  The  longest  line  of 
all  was  that  of  Texas,  containing  34,000  more  square  miles 
than  the  Austrian  empire.  A  glance  at  this  page  of  the 
"  Herald  "  shows  the  relative  size  of  the  68  countries  at 
once. 

The  Canadian  maps  given  me  by  the  Hon.  Mr.  Pope  are 
remarkable  for  their  picturesque  distinctness.  A  quarto 
pamphlet  of  Manitoba  and  northwest  territories  is  filled 
with  copious  wood-cut  illustrations,  singularly  clear,  convey- 


AMONG   TUB    AMERICANS. 


179 


ing  the  sense  of  coolness  and  clearness  of  the  air:  while  the 
American  wood*cuts,  in  many  instances,  reproduce  the  effect 
of  heat  and  sunlight,  so  that  when  I  look  upon  the  engrav- 
ings of  places  which  I  saw,  the  atmospheric  associations 
under  which  I  saw  them  return  again  to  the  mind.  A 
writer  describing  Winnipeg,  says  "  it  possesses  an  excellent 
daily  newspaper,  the  "  Manitoba  Free  Press."  A  club- 
house is  regarded  as  a  luxury  in  the  Far  West,  and  a  news- 
paper is  held  to  be  a  luxury  of  life."  Thus  intelligence  is 
the  first  thought  of  these  new  settlements.  Mr.  Jas,  Samuel- 
son,  an  English  barrister  (brother  of  the  English  M.  P. 
for  Banbury),  whom  I  met  in  Boston,  has  since  published  a 
small  book  of  useful  information  for  intending  emigrants, 
both  precise  and  informing. 

In  Canada  considerable  practical  thought  is  given  to 
forms  of  co-operation  unknown  in  England.  One  was  a 
plan  by  Mr.  F.  P.  McKelcan,  of  the  nature  of  an  indus- 
trial federation  of  towns  and  villages,  with  a  view  to  obtain, 
at  a  central  office,  a  continuous  record  of  persons  of  all  pro- 
fessions in  any  town  wanting  employment,  or  who  are 
themselves  wanted  or  not  wanted  in  it,  so  that  emigrants 
arriving  can  learn  at  once  where  to  go,  or  what  places  to 
avoid.  A  person  advertised  in  the  "  Montreal  Witness"  for 
a  musical  teacher  for  his  family,  and  for  a  housemaid.  The 
answers  received  showed  that  there  were  2,000  music  teach- 
ers in  Canada  more  than  were  at  that  time  wanted,  while 
there  was  not  a  single  housemaid  to  be  had.  Mr.  McKelcan's 
plan  is  of  the  nature  of  a  Co-operative  Labor  Exchange.  I 
had  opportunity  of  conversing  with  Mr.  McKelcan,  and 
found  him  a  man  of  good  practical  judgment. 


iSo 


AMONG   TIIK    AMBKICANS. 


Whether  C.'inada  derives  the  inspiration  of  equality  from  its 
adjacency  to  the  United  States,  or  whether  its  spirit  of  civil 
liberty  is  indigenous,  I  was  unable,  during  my  pleasant  ac- 
quaintance with  that  country,  to  determine.  That  there 
were  gracious  ways  in  the  land  I  could  see;  for  instance, 
when  the  Canadian  Hanlan — a  brilliant  oarsman— beat 
Elliott  on  the  Tyne,  the  Marquis  of  Lome  telegraphed  to 
Hanlan  his  congratulations.  This  was  a  very  handsome 
thing  to  do.  I  have  known  no  instance  in  which  any  per- 
son in  England  of  eminent  position  has  done  a  similar  thing 
to  an  Englishman  who  has  won  a  victory  in  a  foreign  coun- 
try. No  mayor  ii'i  any  English  town  ever  sent  a  telegram 
of  congratulation  to  any  Englishman  who  had  distinguished 
himself  abroad.  When  Green,  the  Australian  oarsman, 
rowed  with  Robert  Chambers  on  the  Thames — the  greatest 
oarsman  England  has  produced — I  went  myself  to  Sir  Hugh 
Childers,  then  our  First  Lord  of  the  Admiralty,  and  sug- 
guested  to  him  that,  as  he  had  held  an  official  position  in 
Australia,  it  would  be  a  graceful  thing  to  send  some  message 
of  recognition  of  Green,  which  would  be  encouragement  to 
him.  Sir  Hugh  did  so,  but  otherwise  it  would  not  have 
been  done.  Chambers,  of  the  Tyne,  was  the  bravest  oars- 
man I  ever  knew.  In  a  mile  race  Green  went  more  swiftly 
through  the  water  than  any  man  who  had  before  appeared 
on  our  rivers.  In  Green*s  four-mile  race  with  Chambers  on 
the  Thames,  Chambers  beat  him  absolutely;  and  I  knew 
Chambers  would  be  better  pleased  that  his  opponent  should 
have  every  encouragement  to  put  forth  his  highest  power, 
for  Chambers  preferred  a  stout  contest.  The  incident  I 
have  related  made  me  more  appreciate  the  voluntary  act  of 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


i8i 


the  Marquis  of  Lome  in  sending  a  message  from  Canada  to 
Hanlan.  As  an  Englishman,  I  was  interested  in  what  re- 
lated to  the  Marquis  of  Lome  in  Canada.  Before  he  went 
out  he  published  a  volume  of  poems,  superior  to  anything 
Lord  Byron  published  at  his  age.  The  English  are  a 
mysterious  people  in  the  eyes  of  Americans.  We  treat  the 
aristocracy  in  politics  with  a  deference  Americans  contemn; 
while  in  literature  we  treat  them  with  a  severity  that 
Americans  would  not  display.  If  the  Marquis  of  Lome 
was  a  pitman,  or  a  weaver,  he  would  be  ranked  higher  as  a 
poet  than  he  is,  being  a  peer. 

One  afternoon  in  Ottawa  I  had  the  honor  to  receive,  at 
the  Russell  House,  a  deputation  from  the  Ottawa  Progress- 
ive Society.  It  was  the  first  formal  deputation  I  had  received. 
I  am  afraid  I  did  not  acquit  myself  with  the  dignity  a  visit 
of  that  kind  demanded,  but  the  interview  was  to  me  a  very 
pleasant  one.  The  same  is  true  in  both  particulars  of  a 
deputation  which  I  met  at  the  Union  Depot,  Toronto. 
Among  them  was  Mr.  Belford,  of  the  great  publishing 
house  of  that  city,  and  Mr.  A.  L.  Jury,  representing  the 
Toronto  Co-operative  Association,  and  also  representatives 
from  the  Toronto  Philosophical  Society.  The  time  at  my 
disposal  did  not  enable  me  to  visit  the  city.  I  had  been  in 
it  in  the  early  morning  a  few  days  before,  when  I  insisted 
upon  walking  into  the  streets  that  I  might  have  palpable 
assurance  of  treading  on  the  soil  of  Toronto. 

Canada  is  a  much  more  pleasant  and  habitable  country 
than  Englishmen  imagine  at  home.  The  cold  is  definite  in 
its  nature,  limited  in  its  period  of  operation,  and  is  to  be 
combatted  by  exercise,  and  the  contest  conduces  to  health. 


1 82 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


There  is  great  warmth  in  the  summer  season  and  almost 
perpetual  brightness  in  the  cold  time.  I  was  assured  that 
the  clear  and  brilliant  days  to  be  spent  among  the  snow 
afTord  an  exhilaration  unknown  in  England.  I  found  many 
emigrants  from  the  old  country  who  thought  they  would 
not  like  to  live  in  England  or  Scotland  after  their  experience 
there.  It  was  professed  to  mc  that  the  fogs  of  New  Bruns- 
wick are  superior  to  ours  since  they  give  no  colds.  But  of 
the  superiority  of  their  fogs  I  can  give  no  opinion  as  I  did 
not  try  them.  When  Mr.  George  lies,  of  the  Windsor 
Hotel,  Montreal,  afterwards  visited  me  in  London,  at  the 
Christmas  of  1879,1!  often  heard  him  say  that  in  the  winter 
weeks  he  spent  in  London,  he  experienced  more  discomfort 
from  cold  than  he  ever  did  in  Canada.  It  was  a  new  thing 
for  me  to  find  in  Ottawa  that  the  Liberals  were  in  favor  of 
what  we  understand  as  "  personal  government,'*  while  the 
Conservative  party  were  opposed  to  it.  On  that  question  I 
was  a  Conservative  in  Ottawa.  Thus  Canada  was  a  coun- 
try in  which  I  could  change  my  party  without  changing  my 
principles.  Lord  Dufferin,  when  Governor-General  of 
Canada,  said,  at  a  dinner  given  to  him  at  Toronto,  "  For 
many  years  past  I  have  been  a  strong  advocate  for  emigra- 
tion in  the  interest  of  the  British  population.  I  believe  that 
emigration  is  a  benefit  both  to  those  who  go  and  to  those  that 
remoin ;  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  the  most  effectual  and 
legitimate  weapon  with  which  labor  can  contend  with  capi- 
taW  These  are  the  wisest  words  (save  as  I  think  those 
which  co-operation  has  to  utter)  that  any  man  of  eminence 
has  said  upon  the  policy  of  labor. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


MANNERS  AND  OPINION  IN  AMERICA. 


Children  in  America  are  regarded  as  apt  to  act  upon  their 
own  will  rather  than  upon  the  will  of  their  parents.  It  did 
not  appear  to  be  so  in  any  of  the  families  which  I  had  op- 
portunities of  observing;  on  the  contrary,  there  were  mani- 
fest affectionate  and  intelligent  obedience.  At  the  same 
time  it  was  apparent  that  young  people  were  more  self-act- 
ing than  they  are  in  England,  where  we  have  a  somewhat 
unwise  domestic  paternalism,  which  encourages  a  costly  de- 
pendence. The  result  is  that  many  parents  have  to  keep 
their  children  at  a  period  of  life  when  children  should  be 
prepared  to  keep  their  parents,  if  need  be.  The  American 
habit  of  training  their  children  to  independence,  which  they 
interpret  as  meaning  self-dependence,  has  much  to  be  said 
in  its  favor.  We  have  the  Scriptural  maxim,  "  Train  up  a 
child  in  the  way  it  should  go."  Young  people  in  England 
among  the  middle  class  have  quite  reversed  this.  Their 
reading  of  the  text  is,  "  Train  up  the  parents  in  the  way 
they  should  go  that  when  they  are  old  they  shall  not  depart 
from  it."  Hence  it  is  that  we  have  so  many  young  men 
whose  politics  are  Conservative  conceit,  who  despise  the 
principles  under  which  their  fathers  were  enabled  to  achieve 


i84 


AMONG   THE    AMBUICANS. 


prosperity,  and  who  think  their  mission  in  this  world  is  to 
live  upon  the  earnings  of  their  relatives,  making  no  hor*'  < 
exertions  on  their  ov/n  behalf. 

Th**  ^'quality  of  classes  in  America  has  many  pleasant 
features.  Policemen  are  dressed  without  the  apoplectic  rigor 
common  with  us.  In  riding  with  Mr.  Quincy,  in  one  of 
the  public  carriages,  or  with  the  mayor  of  the  city,  I  ob- 
served that  they  spoke  to  the  driver  as  an  acquaintance. 
When  Mr.  Wendell  Phillips  took  me  to  see  Cambridge  he 
consulted  the  driver  as  to  the  best  route  to  see  the  university 
and  other  places  of  interest.  Sometimes  the  driver  stopped 
and  sugj^3sted  ahother  route  that  he  thought  would  be 
better,  with  as  much  ease  and  confidence  as  though  he  were 
oiie  of  the  party.  In  nations  where  there  is  social  inequality, 
intercourse  between  superior  and  inferior  classes  is  marked 
by  ceremonies  of  submission  on  the  part  of  the  lower  to  the 
higher.  There  are  also  observances  of  pure  courtesy,  which 
pass  under  the  pleasant  name  of  "  deference."  Deference 
is  just  when  it  is  voluntary ',  when  offered  as  an  acknowledg- 
ment of  discerned  worth  it  is  politeness;  when  it  is  yielded 
because  it  is  exacted  it  is  servility.  When  all  classes  become 
socially  equal,  as  in  America,  there  is  among  the  unthink- 
ing an  unceremoniousness  of  behavior,  which  they  sup- 
pose to  be  a  sign  of  equality  as  showing  that  one  man  is  as 
good  as  another.  It  is  overlooked  that  among  gentlemen 
who  are  on  a  perfect  equality,  there  is  deference  of  manner 
towards  each  other.  Without  it,  equality  becomes  mere 
familiarity.  In  a  democratic  nation  every  person  is  a  gentle- 
man or  a  lady  in  social  rights,  and  perpetual  deference  to 
«}ach  other  is  a  mark  of  educated  equality.     What  reticence 


AMONG   THE   AMBKICANS. 


iS^c 


is  in  speech,  deference  is  in  manners.  Those  who  do  not 
know  when  to  be  silent  are  not  more  offensive  than  they 
who  do  not  know  when  to  be  still.  The  babbler  is  one 
with  the  familiar.  Deference  is  the  acknowledgment  of  in- 
dividual superiority  where  it  exists.  Rudeness  is  a  coarse 
assumption  of  the  right  to  disregard  the  feelings  and  con- 
venience of  others.     It  is  not  equality,  it  is  insolence. 

Emigrants  who  have  left  Great  Britain  because  affairs 
were  hopeless  about  them,  naturally  conclude  that  the 
country  will  not  last  long  which  could  not  find  a  livelihood 
for  them;  and  they  diffuse  about  them  an  impression  that 
"  the  old  country  is  about  to  burst  up."  I  met  with  a  droll 
instance  of  this  in  Ottawa.  Rumors  of  the  distress  of  the 
working  class  in  England  had  spread  over  the  United  States 
and  Canada,  and  a  deputation  of  farmers  were  known  to 
have  over-run  both  countries,  seeking  sites  for  settlements. 
A  porter  at  the  Russell  House,  Ottawa,  a  square- looking 
youth,  with  readiness  of  speech,  of  Irish  extraction  I  judged, 
though  "  raised  "  in  England,  told  me,  with  great  confi- 
dence in  the  accuracy  of  his  own  knowledge,  that  "  the 
people  in  England  were  fighting  to  get  into  the  poorhouse, 
and  that  the  Queen  was  so  struck  and  agitated  by  the  dis- 
tress and  ruin  of  England,  that  she  had  sent  her  wisest  men 
to  America  to  find  out  the  cause,  and  that  they  had  been  to 
Ottawa  making  inquiries."  The  process,  as  he  described  it, 
of  going  so  far  from  home  to  find  out  what  was  the  matter 
there,  certainly  looked  a  little  odd  and  roundabout.  Never- 
theless, one  cause  of  the  cci'dition  of  the  farmer  in  England 
is  doubtless  to  be  found  in  America.  My  amusing  infor- 
mant added,  "  England  was  not  cowed  like  Iieland,  and 


i86 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


would  rise  and  put  down  the  Government  if  the  ruin  went 
on."  His  idea  evidently  was  that  the  Government  could 
prevent  any  evil  if  it  chose. 

The  unrest  which  is  a  feature  of  American  life,  is  a  na- 
tural growth  of  the  settler's  condition  in  a  new  country. 
The  early  settlers  were  broken  up  by  the  Indians.  When 
the  settlers  increased  they  broke  up  the  Indians  to  make 
more  room  for  themselves.  Afterwards  adventurers  from 
Europe  kept  up  a  general  alertness  of  mind.  Men  being 
free,  as  men  were  never  free  before  in  this  world,  the  first 
effects  are  unrest.  The  resources  of  American  life  being 
apparently  boundless,  and  land  plentiful  and  fruitful  being 
easily  acquired,  the  appetite  for  adventure  arises  and  grows 
by  what  it  feeds  upon.  Having  so  many  chances,  Ameri- 
cans have  less  need  of  security  than  Englishmen,  since,  if 
one  chance  fails  the  American,  there  are  many  others  open 
to  him.  Opportunity  is  up  early  in  the  morning,  and  may 
be  met  about  all  day.  The  chances  of  even  splendor  of 
life  incite  the  new  settler  to  incur  risks  to  obtain  it  which 
Englishmen  seldom  think  of  undertaking.  Restlessness  is 
not  the  disease  of  Republicanism.  It  is  the  malady  of  am- 
bition— of  indigence  and  hopelessness — suddenly  confronted 
with  great  opportunities.  Disorder  itself  marches  at  the 
heels  of  success.  Vastness  of  half-occupied  country  begets 
lawlessness,  and  lawlessness  begets  the  fighting  power,  and 
the  fighting  power  begets  the  fighting  habit.  Wealth  easily 
gained  begets  luxury,  and  luxury  begets  desperate  eflforts  to 
maintain  itself.  Where  great  results  are  possible,  ambition, 
never  ignited  in  Europe  is  set  on  fire  there.  Splendid 
houses  are  possessed  by  men  once  poor  and  abject.     In  ter- 


f 


n  went 
Lt  could 

is  a  na- 
:ountry. 

When 
o  naake 
rs  from 
n  being 
the  first 
e  being 
il  being 
i  grows 

Ameri- 
since,  if 
srs  open 
nd  may 
ndor  of 
whicli 
ssness  is 

of  am- 
[ifronted 
at  the 

begets 
and 
th  easily 
jfForts  to 
mbition, 
Splendid 

In  ter- 


ser, 


/ 


t 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


187 


ritories  so  vast  there  ar^  wild  parts  where  the  country  is  a 
camp,  and  the  rule  which  for  a  time  prevails  is  the  rule  of 
the  knife.  But  every  increase  of  numbers  helps  to  bring  in 
the  rule  of  law. 

Some  travellers  have  reported  disparagingly  of  Ameri- 
can inquisitiveness.  A  stranger  being  besieged  with  ques- 
tions of  a  very  personal  nature,  seemed  to  me  a  very  natural 
thing  in  a  country  of  widely-dispersed  settlers.  So  many 
are  far  away  from  centres  of  news  that  they  have  a  craving 
for  it  others  never  know.  The  stranger  is  to  them  a  peri- 
patetic newspaper.  His  object  in  coming  there,  his  destina- 
tion, the  place  whence  he  first  set  out,  the  place  which  he 
has  left,  all  imply  new  information.  He  knows  something 
which  is  unknown  to  the  inquirers,  and  they  want  to  know 
what  it  is ;  it  is  partly  curiosity  and  partly  necessity.  There 
is  something  stirring  elsewhere,  or  he  would  not  be  stirring 
there.  The  craving  for  news  is  a  passion  of  the  settler's 
condition,  and  the  habit  of  acquiring  it  clings  to  him  when 
he  is  in  a  position  to  obtain  information  otherwise.  The 
saturated  English  traveller  from  populous  cities,  where  news 
is  heard  from  a  thousand  tongues,  is  too  apt  to  forget  that 
the  isolated  have  parched  minds  and  thirst  for  details. 

The  splendid  school  system  of  the  country  causes  a  much 
higher  average  of  intelligence  than  we  have  in  England.  I 
frequently  heard  young  ladies  of  fifteen  or  eighteen  years 
of  age  speak  familiarly  and  intelligently  of  public  questions, 
cite  the  names,  recall  the  record,  describe  the  capacity  of 
public  men  with  an  accuracy  of  judgment  which  would  be 
thought  unusual  in  ladies  in  England  of  mature  age.     Where 


iSS 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


general  intelligence  reaches  so  high  a  level,  persons  of  dis- 
tinguished attainments  are  less  conspicuous  than  they  are  in 
a  nation  where  the  majority  are  ignorant.  Where  the 
many  know  little,  a  person  whose  knowledge  reaches  only 
the  standard  of  mediocrity  has  a  chance  of  being  conspicu- 
ous, and  a  person  of  ordinary  attainments  is  eminent.  But 
it  implies  a  higher  state  of  progress  where  the  majority  are 
well  informed,  than  where  only  a  few  are  so.  In  America 
there  are  a  million  villas  to  a  single  mansion.  This  implies 
a  far  higher  average  of  comfort  than  where  there  are  a 
thousand  great  houses,  and  a  million  hovels. 

Publicists  in  the  United  States  know  perfectly  well  the 
intellectual  requirements  of  the  population.  Nothing  has 
been  spoken  upon  such  a  subject  in  England  showing  more 
practical  wisdom  than  the  following  passage  by  Professor 
J.  C.  Zachos,  teacher  of  oratory,  English  language,  and 
literature,  at  the  Cooper  Union,  New  York,  before  named : 

It  is  generally  assumed  that  brutality  and  ignorance,  idleness  and 
dissipation,  criminality  and  pauperism,  are  confined  for  the  most  part 
among  the  poor  and  uneducated  class  of  the  community.  This  is  a 
great  mistake.  When  a  man  or  woman  does  not  support  himself  or 
herself  by  fullfilling  some  useful  and  necessary  function  In  society, 
either  in  administration  or  work,  what  is  this  but  pauperism  without 
beggary?  When  a  man  or  woman  disregards  sentiments  of  honor 
outrages  feelings  of  humanity,  tramples  upon  the  weak  and  wrongs 
the  innocent,  robs  and  steals  by  professional  devices  and  "  tricks  of 
the  trade,"  what  is  he  or  she  but  a  criminal  in  the  sight  of  God  and 
all  honest  hearts,  though  far  beyond  the  reach  of  the  law?  When  a 
man  or  woman,  "  with  the  best  intentions,"  does  not  know  how  to 
preserve  his  or  her  health,  or  the  children's,  in  the  ordinary  conditions 
of  life;  "knows  much  of  books,  but  little  of  men,"  much  about 
literature  and  history,  but  little  of  nature;  is  conversant  with  "  letters 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


1S9 


ms  of  dis- 
ley  are  in 
^here  the 
iches  only 
conspicu- 
lent.  But 
ijority  are 
I  America 
lis  implies 
liere  are  a 

f  well  tlie 
Qthing  has 
mng  more 
Professor 
;uage,  ant! 
re  named: 

idleness  and 

le  most  part 

This  is  a 

t  himself  or 

In  society, 

ism  without 

ts  of  honor 
> 

and  wrongs 
d  "tricks  of 
of  God  and 
Av?  When  a 
now  how  to 
conditions 
nuch  about 
,vith  "  letters 


and  language,"  but  knows  not  the  alphabet  of  science  nor  the  ele- 
ments of  natural  history — is  not  all  this  very  miserable  ignorance  of 
things  essential  to  human  happiness  and  progress?  Ignorance  does 
not  signify  the  absence  of  knowledge  on  every  and  all  subjects,  but  of 
those  the  most  essential  to  our  position,  opportunities,  and  obvious 
duties.  Is  not  this  kind  of  ignorance  very  common  among  what  are 
called  the  intelligent,  and  even  the  "  learned  "  classes? 

This  passage  contains  a  volume  upon  the  morality  of 
daily  life.  Eccentricity  in  piety  in  America  is  imputed  to 
the  want  of  that  delicacy  and  taste  supposed  to  be  conspicu- 
ous in  Democratic  institutions;  yet  in  England  Moody  and 
Sankey  exhibitions  were  promoted  by  noblemen.  Thurlow 
Weed,  a  politician  always  spoken  of  now  as  a  "  venerable 
and  great  authority,"  has  lately  given  the  following  descrip- 
tion of  American  Christianity : 

Clergymen  do  not,  as  formerly,  dwell  and  linger  upon  the  dark 
feature  of  theology.  Nothing  is  now  heard  of  the  fate  of  "  infants 
not  a  span  long."'  The  ministry  of  our  day  is  a  ministry  of  peace, 
charity,  and  good  will.  This  generation  learns  to  love  and  serve 
rather  than  to  dread  and  distrust  our  Creator  and  Saviour. 

This  is  said  in  answer  to  a  great  American  heretic,  CoL 
R.  G.  IngersoU.  But  the  answer  itself  is  ncresy  in  Eng- 
land. The  intolerance  complained  of  in  Anicricai  religious 
life  did  not  strike  me  as  being  at  all  so  seriox:s  as  :'■  »s  some- 
times represented.  Intolerance  in  any  dei2'ree  i«  thought 
more  of  in  America  than  elsewhere,  because  li-c  general 
liberty  of  opinion  is  so  great  there.  There  is,  however,  I 
observed,  some  neat  unadulterated  intolerance  in  many 
church  quarters  in  the  States;  but  the  bluest  pattern  is  im- 
ported, and,  as  a  rule,  does  not  keep  its  color  in  America. 
It  is  objected   that   a   stranger  settling   anywhere   in  the 


n 


ipo 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


country  is  asked  by  his  neighbor  what  church  he  purposes 
to  attend,  and  that  there  is  an  exacting  expectation  that  he 
should  go  to  some  place. '  The  question,  however,  is  often 
put  merely  to  test  the  stranger's  tastes.  If  no  place  on  hand 
suits  him,  things  are  sometimes  made  unpleasant  to  him. 
But  this  objection  to  nonconformity  is  a  very  different  thing 
from  what  it  is  in  England.  In  America  there  are  fifty  re- 
ligions to  one  in  England,  and  a  man  is  fairly  thought  to  be 
fa^; ;i(]j  JUS  and  "stuck  up  "  who,  amid  the  great  variety  pre- 
se;  !'«d  to  liitn  for  selection,  cannot  find  one  to  his  mind. 
Th>y  offer  him  so  many  specimens  that  they  think  it  a  re- 
flection upcai  their  ingenuity  if  not  one  will  suit  the  new 
comer.  If,  however,  the  stranger  who  is  thus  difficult  to 
please,  chooses  to  set  up  a  new  religion  for  himself,  there  is 
nothing  more  said.  He  is  quite  at  liberty  to  do  it,  and  if  he 
**  strikes  ile  "  in  unexpected  quarters  he  becomes  popular,  as 
having  increased  the  theological  resources  of  the  community 
American  Christians  are  brav  er-minded  than  English.  They 
believe  in  spite  of  irreverent  humor.  They  can  laugh  at 
droll  aspects  of  the  thing  they  like.  We  think  ridicule  kills 
piety.  The  religion  of  the  nation  does  not  stand  upon  the 
connection  of  the  Church  with  the  State,  but  upon  convic- 
tion, which  is  braver.  Americans  have  such  prodigal  ma- 
terial resources  that  they  expect  a  great  deal  of  everything. 
Whether  it  be  theology  or  politics,  they  like  large  quantities 
of  it.  As  with  us,  those  who  promise  most  are  most  popu- 
lar. It  is  only  the  few  who  see  that  a  little  truth  makes 
you  wealthier  than  ten  times  the  amount  of  error.  But 
with  the  bulk  of  mankind,  as  they  are,  making  great 
promises  is  a  good  trade  alike  in  politics  or  piety.     It  does 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


W 


purposes 
that  he 
,  is  often 
Q  on  hand 
t  to  him. 
ent  thing 
3  fifty  re- 
ight  to  be 
riety  prc- 
hls  mind, 
k  it  a  re- 
the  new 
lifficult  to 
if,  there  is 
u  and  if  he 
opular,  as 
>mmunity 
sh.   They 
laugh  at 
icule  kills 
upon  the 
>n  convic- 
digal  ma- 
;erything. 
quantities 
ost  popu- 
th  makes 
ror.     But 
ng    great 
It  does 


not  much  matter  that  nothing  comes  true.  Many  genera- 
tions of  men  will  live  on  expectations,  as  the  history  of 
great  creeds  shows.  Those  who  believe  in  many  things  are 
much  better  regarded  by  the  public  than  those  who  believe 
in  few.  Simplicity  and  truth  seem  shabbiness  by  the  side 
of  the  profuseness  of  error  and  the  opulence  of  delusion. 
Besides  the  thinking  class  (never  very  numerous  in  any 
country),  who  look  for  evidence  of  new  truth  or  for  verifi- 
cations of  supposed  truth,  there  are  two  other  classes — those 
who  have  each  a  set  of  first  principles  for  himself,  and 
those — the  most  numerous  of  all — who  have  no  principles 
whatever,  and  do  not  want  any. 

The  reason  why  spiritualism  answers  better  in  America 
than  elsewhere  is  because  anybody  may  put  what  interpre- 
tation he  pleases  upon  any  proposition  advanced;  and  in 
districts  where  there  is  no  standard  of  common  sense  or  test 
of  science  established,  the  believer  has  it  all  his  own  way. 
Then  people  who  aim  at  nothing  almost  always  hit  it  and 
nobody  disputes  their  success. 

The  American  manner  of  speech  is  more  picturesque 
than  in  England.  People  look  at  things  in  a  more  uncon- 
ventional way.  I  had  excused  myself  to  my  host,  Mr. 
Hill,  at  Florence  for  smoking,  by  saying  I  did  it  to  avoid 
pretence  of  perfection.  "  Yes,"  he  said,  "  You  don't  want 
to  be  an  angel  at  starting  out."  One  thing  which  struck 
me  in  meeting  American  ladies  was  seeing  how  large  a 
number  were  teeth-talkers.  They  used  their  teeth  like  a 
piano,  and  the  pretty  accents  seemed  to  run  along  the  rows. 
English  women  usually  talk  with  their  lips,  which  is  entic- 


"I.''  >-^'s^;^ 


1^2 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


ing,  but  the  American  method  has  very  winning  ways  with 
it. 

Tlie  Irish,  whose  charm  is  perplexingness,  do  not  suffer 
that  quality  to  deteriorate  in  America.  They  submit  to  the 
Church,  but  rebel  against  secular  government.  They  sub- 
mit to  ecclesiastical  authority  abjectly,  and  resist  the  nobler 
authority  of  reason  foolishly.  Having  been  so  long  op- 
pressed and  deceived,  they  suspect  nobody  so  much  as  those 
who  try  to  serve  them. 

Among  Americans  I  found  descendants  of  the  old  Tory 
party  still  of  .opinion  that  the  United  States  would  be  the 
better  for  a  king.  I  conversed  with  many  who  longed  for 
an  aristocracy.  There  are  always  persons  who,  having 
acquired  or  inherited  riches  without  capacity,  or  disposition 
to  distinguish  themselves  in  the  public  service,  would  wel- 
come any  sj^stem  which  accorded  them  distinction  without 
dessert.  Besides  there  are  in  every  state  numerous  persons 
who  think  they  could  manage  public  affairs  much  more  sat- 
isfactorily, at  least,  to  themselves,  without  the  troublesome 
control  of  the  democracy.  There  are  people  who  decry 
and  give  dismal  accounts  of  popular  government.  Then 
there  are  those  who  having  lost  the  opportunity  of  exercis- 
ing paternal  government  over  the  colored  people,  would  be 
glad  to  extend  it  to  the  whites.  Others  I  found,  as  we  find 
them  in  England,  making  quite  a  reputation  by  denouncing 
the  supposed  tyranny  of  others,  with  a  view  to  putting  a 
real  one  of  their  own  in  its  place.  Amid  ingenious  and 
varying  disguises  of  patriotic  speech",  it  was  not  difficult  to 
discern  the  irrigating  current  of  personal  purpose,  running 
beneath  their  fertile  ardor.     You  know  the   Democratic- 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


'93 


iTays  with 

lot  suffer 
nit  to  the 
'hey  sub- 
le  nobler 
long  op- 
li  as  those 

old  Tory 
Id  be  the 
311  ged  for 
),   having 
lisposition 
ould  wel- 
1  without 
IS  persons 
more  sat- 
)ublesome 
ho  decry 
It.     Then 
)f  exercis- 
woukl  be 
IS  we  find 
enouncing 
(Utting  a 
nious  and 
lifficult  to 
!,  running 
emocratic- 


Republican,  who  professes  exclusively  to  represent  the  in- 
terests of  the  people,  by  the  same  sign  that  you  know  the 
Tory-Chartist  in  England.  In  London,  he  professes  neither 
to  believe  in  Whigs  or  Tories.  If  he  owns  to  a  preference 
it  is  that  he  would  rather  see  the  Tories  in  power  than  the 
Whigs;  and  what  he  says,  and  what  he  supports,  all  tend 
to  that  end.  In  America  the  Democratic-Republican  de- 
nounces Republicans  and  Democrats  alike.  His  impartial 
soul  soars  to  a  nobler  ideal,  but  it  is  the  Democratic  thing 
he  will  be  found  aiding  nevertheless.  Whoever  cares  only 
for  his  own  personal  interest,  whether  as  an  individual  or  as 
a  member  of  a  class,  teaches  public  men,  so  far  as  his  ex- 
ample goes,  to  act  upon  the  same  principle,  and  one  day  the 
property  and  freedom  of  himself  and  those  whom  he  rep- 
resents may  be  sw«ept  away  by  those  whom  he  has  instructed 
to  use  power  for  their  own  purposes. 

So  many  aspects  of  American  and  Canadian  life  strike 
a  stranger,  that  the  space  I  have  prescribed  for  myself  will 
not  contain  them  all.  Many  persons  have  been  omitted 
whom  I  ought  to  name  and  also  many  incidents  which  I 
should  like  to  relate.  No  doubt  as  many  have  been  de- 
scribed as  will  suffice  to  satisfy  the  reader  that  the  people 
and  the  country  have  inexhaustible  interest.  It  is  a  land 
where  each  man  believes  that  he  can  move  the  State  him- 
self, and  sometimes  one  man  does  it.  America  is  a  land 
where  no  oppression  can  long  exist,  except  that  which  the 
people  choose  to  inflict  upon  themselves.  Daniel  Webster 
once  said  to  an  aspiring,  but  modest  young  lawyer,  who  had 
expressed  his  fear  that  the  profession  was  overcrowded, 
"  My  young  friend,  there  is  always  plenty  of  room  at  the 


194 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


top."  Meaning  that  excellence  where  most  needed  is  never 
in  excess,  and  that  on  the  path  leading  to  it,  requiring 
courage  and  perseverance  to  travel,  there  is  seldom  seen 
many  passengers.  In  no  country  is  there  much  competition 
at  the  top,  hut  the  road  to  it  is  more  open  in  America  than 
elsewhere,  while  paths  to  honorable  prosperity  are  innu- 
merable, and  some  of  them  three  thousand  miles  long. 

NoTK. — The  nature  of  these  paths,  ond  the  co-operative  woy  of 
travelling  therein,  is  the  suliject  of  the  next  and  finai  chapter,  whicii, 
additional  to  those  announced,  will  conclude  this  scries.  For  reasons 
given  in  it,  it  will  be  devoted  to  an  entirely  neglected  subject,  "  Emi* 
grant  Education." 


I  ! 


id  is  never 
requiring 
[lorn  seen 
•mpctitioii 
;rica  thnii 
arc  innu- 
long. 

Ive  way  of 
)tcr,  which, 
Por  reasons 
ect,  "Eml* 


CHAPTER  XV. 


KMIOUANT    KDUCATION. 


"  The  German  and  Irish  millionH,  like  the  negro,  have 
n  great  deal  of  guano  in  tiiuir  destiny.  Tlicy  are  ferried 
over  tlie  Atlantic  and  carted  over  Ainerica,  to  ditch  and  to 
drudge,  to  make  corn  cheap,  and  then  to  He  down  pre- 
maturely to  make  a  spot  of  green  grass  on  the  prairie." 
Let  us  hope  this  is  a  history  of  the  past  only.  A  more 
melancholy  outlook  for  emigrants  than  these  words  of 
Emerson's  is  scarcely  conceivable.  Yet  the  same  may  be 
said  of  the  fate  of  the  majority  of  pioneers  of  all  nations 
hitherto,  who  have  gone  out  to  found  their  fortunes  in  new 
countries.  Yet  co-operative  arrangements  are  possible 
which  would  diminish  "  guano  "  in  the  destiny  of  adven- 
ture, and  delay  the  appearance  of  the  "  spot  of  green  "  on 
the  prairie  until  it  suited  the  emigrant  that  it  should  appear. 

One  condition  of  organized  emigration  is  a  book  of  the 
kind  described  in  Chapter  XII.  The  need  of  a  Govern- 
ment guide  book  to  all  the  States,  may  be  seen  l^  the 
following  letters,  which  were  sent  to  me  while  there.  The 
first  writer,  Mr,  S.  J.  Athern,  does  not  think  much  of 
Texas,  and  he  speaks  as  an  emigrant  of  thirty-three  years' 
experience.    He  says: 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT.3) 


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23  WIST  MAIN  STRIET 

WtBSTIR.N.Y.  14SM 

(716)S72-4S03 


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.** 


'i 


196 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


\ 


"You  saw  when  here  [New  York]  the  chagrin  and  terrible  disap' 
pointment  of  a  party  of  English  farmers  who  settled  (or,  rather 
purchased  land,  for  they  could  not  "settle")  in  that  terribly  trying 
and  arid  State  of  Texas.  In  Texas  the  land,  or  much  of  it,  is  arid, 
the  climate  is  trying,  and  the  civilization  of  that  vast  territory  is  not 
inviting;  in  short,  it  takes  a  nation  of  Texans  to  reside  in  Texa^  to 
battle  with  the  pitsol  and  the  bowie*knife,  which  have  sway  in  that 
State.  Thirty'three  years  ago  I  was  an  emigrant  myself,  so  that 
you  see  I  have  a  fellow-feeling  for  those  who  follow  in  my  wake." 

The  next  writer  bears  excellent  testimony  in  favor  of 
Texas.  He  has  had  forty-two  years'  experience  of  the 
State.  Mr.  George  W.  Grant,  of  Huntsville,  Walter 
County,  Tex*,  wrote  to  me  saying  that — 

"  He  had  been  a  citizen  of  that  State  since  1837,  over  forty-two 
years;  had  been  much  over  the  State,  and  knew  it  well,  and  was  im- 
pressed with  the  belief  that  the  climate,  soil,  and  seasons  are  as  well, 
if  not  better,  adapted  for  emigrant  enterprise  than  any  other  place. 
Land  is  cheap;  that  some  counties  hold  over  1,700  acres  granted 
from  the  State  for  school  purposes.  University  and  other  public 
institutions  own  much  rich  prairie  country,  with  wood  and  rock,  for 
every  purpose — ^grazing  and  farming  land — which  can  be  bought  from 
$1  to  $2  per  acre,  on  ten  years'  time,  at  8  per  cent  interest" 

The  next  writer  is  clear  as  to  the  fertility  of  the  country, 
but  less  so  as  to  the  intellectual  fertility  of  some  of  the 
people.  Mr.  William  M'llwrath,  of  Chillicothe,  (Mo.) 
with  whom  I  do  not  agree — writes  as  follows : 

"A  great  many  come  here  and  think  because  the  country  is 
fertile,  the  people  untrammelled  by  any  of  the  Old  Country  ideas  or 
associations,  that  here,  and  here  alone,  is  to  be  found  true  Republican 
government — true  representative  government.  There  is,  perhaps, 
no  country  to-day  for  which  a  combination  of  circumstances  has 
done  so  much,  and  for  which  the  people  thereof  have  themselves 


\ 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


197 


ble  diisap< 
or,  rather 
h\y  trying 
it,  is  arid, 
;ory  is  not 
I  Texa^  to 
ay  in  tliat 
f,  so  tliat 
ny  wake." 

favor  of 

!  of  the 

Walter 

forty-two 
i  was  im- 
e  as  well, 
ler  place, 
granted 
jr  public 
rock,  for 
»ht  from 

ountry, 
of  the 
(Mo.) 

jntry  is 
ideas  or 
>ublican 
>erhaps, 
ces  has 
mselves 


done  so  little.  About  fifty  millions  of  people  are  here  ruled,  in  one 
sense,  as  completely  by  an  oligarchy  of  moneyed  men  as  ever  was 
a  petty  duchy  of  Europe  ruled  by  its  duke.  Our  people  are  not  any 
more  ignorant  than  the  mass  of  people  of  other  countries;  but  there 
is  this  peculiar  feature  about  the  ignorance  of  many — they  think 
they  know  everything,  and  convey  that  thought  with  them  into  their 
everyday  action.  The  ignorant  person  in  other  countries  is,  as  a 
general  thing,  conscious  of  his  ignorance;  but  here  he  is  not.  The 
most  complex,  most  abstruse  questions  in  the  science  of  govern- 
ment can  be  fully  explained  to  you  by  an  ignoramus.'* 

The  want  of  the  next  writer  is  manifestly  some  book 
which  he  can  depend  upon  for  guidance.  Mr.  H.  Smith, 
Greeley,  Colorado,  writes  as  follows: 

"  I  have  been  in  this  country  some  years,  have  a  wife  and  three 
children,  have  been  farming  and  laboring,  and,  by  close  economy 
and  hard  work,  have  got  together  a  few  hundred  dollars  cash.  Wish 
to  get  me  a  farm  and  home  for  self  and  family,  and  not  having  means 
enough  to  run  around  the  country  and  find  out  whether  what  I  read 
is  true  of  lands,  and  having  no  friends  to  help  me,  I  do  not  see  how 
to  make  a  good  and  safe  investment,  or  how  much  confidence  to  put 
in  what  I  read  about  the  country,  so  that  I  can  act  with  safety.  I 
have  seen  enough  of  going  off  alone  on  the  prairie,  or  in  the  woods, 
with  no  schools  or  advantages  of  any  kind." 

Canada,  no  less  than  the  United  States,  affords  the  same 
sort  of  eloquent,  because  unconcerted,  testimony  as  to  the 
need  of  trustworthy  information.  Last  year — 1880— there 
S£dled  from  the  river  Mersey,  Liverpool,  180,000  emigrants — 
75,000  were  English,  about  2,000  Scotch,  29,000  Irish,  and 
74,000  foreigners.  What  an  advantage  to  all  these  persons 
it  would  have  been  to  have  a  book  they  could  trust,  telling 
them  what  to  expect  wherever  they  might  go. 


198 


AMONG   THE  AMERICANS. 


As  these  chapters  may  be  read  abroad,  I  conclude  them 
with  some  passages  from  the  report  I  made  to  the  Londorv 
Co  operative  Guild  at  Exeter  Hall  early  in  1880,  shortly 
after  my  return  from  America.  As  application  came  for  as 
many  as  4,000  copies  of  that  statement  for  the  use  of  work- 
ingmen  in  one  district,  after  the  sale  of  the  Co-operative 
News^  which  alone  contained  it  was  exhausted,  it  will  clearly 
serve  many  readers  if  the  chief  statements  are  included 
here,  Mr.  Walter  Morrison  presided  on  the  occasion. 
The  Guild,  whicl*owes  its  existence  to  the  genius  and  de- 
votion of  Mr.  Hodgson  Pratt,  is  the  most  generous  depart- 
ment of  co-operation,  because  its  object  is  to  extend  the 
knowledge  of  that  new  principle  of  industry  which  intro- 
duces equity  into  all  relations  of  labor,  gives  to  workmen 
certainty  of  moderate  competence,  and  affords  capital  ad- 
vantages of  which  it  need  not  be  ashamed.  What  I  repre- 
sented on  that  occasion  was  that  it  is  by  no  act  or  inspiration 
of  ours  that  our  countrymen  do  emigrate.  When  emigra- 
tion is  a  choice  of  those  who  have  means  it  is  creditable  to 
the  enterprise  of  the  nation;  when  it  is  a  necessity  of  the 
poor  it  is  a  disgrace  to  a  community  which  does  not  know 
how  to  take  care  of  its  own  people.  To  the  needy,  the 
friendless,  and  the  ignorant,  emigration  is  a  terror;  it  is  a 
forlorn  adventure  on  untried  existence.  Few  can  conceive 
the  misery  of  the  long  isolated  journey  from  homeland. 
With  little  means  and  less  knowledge,  the  poor  wanderer 
is  often  stripped  of  his  slender  store  on  the  way,  and  never 
reaches  his  destination.  Then  he  becomes  an  unwelcome 
addition  to  the  workmen  of  large  cities,  who  resent  his 
intrusion,  as  by  his  desperate  competition  for  employment 


AMONG  THE  AMERICANS. 


199 


Je  them 
Londoiv 

shortly 
le  for  as 
f  work- 
berativc 

clearly 
deluded 
ccasion. 
and  de- 
depart- 
nd  the 
i  intro- 
>rkmen 
tal  ad- 

repre- 
>iration 
migra- 
ible  to 
of  the 

know 
y,  the 
it  is  a 
nceive 
eland, 
iderer 
never 
[come 
it  his 
ment 


he  brings  down  wages  and  helps  to  create  the  very  same 
condition  of  things  from  which  he  has  fled.  Tossed  about 
the  unknown  eddies  of  thronged  labor  markets,  he  soon 
sinks.  *  Unless  Jocal,  reluctant  charity — reluctant  because 
already  overburdened — spicks  him  up,  his  end  is  more  de- 
plorable than  it  would  have -been  had  he  remained  at  home. 
This  cry  comes  back  to  us  from  every  great  city.  I  heard 
it  myself  in  New  York,  in  Philadelphia,  in  Fall  River,  in 
Cincinnati,  and  Chicago. 

The  great  centres  of  industry  are  as  candles,  which  lure 
the  helpless,  light-pursed  moths  of  labor  to  peiish  in  their 
flames.  Then  how  fares  it  with  those  whose  means  do  hold 
out,  and  who  do  reach  the  prairies?  I  speak  still  of  the 
poor  emigrant.  What  knows  the  tailor,  the  shoemaker,  the 
mechanic,  the  weaver,  the  jeweler,  the  clerk  from  the  desk, 
or  the  assistant  from  behind  the  counter,  of  the  agricultural 
life  they  have  adventured  upon?  They  know  nothing  of 
the  soil,  nor  seasons,  nor  currents,  nor  climate.  They  do 
not  know  the  crops  when  they  see  them,  nor  know  how  to 
cook  the  unfamiliar  produce  when  they  have  raised  it. 
They  do  not  foresee  the  malaria  which  may  leap  from  the 
newly- turned  soil,  nor  the  ague  that  hides  in  the  evening 
air.  Far  away  it  may  be  from  human  habitation,  the  wan- 
dering quack  is  the  only  physician  of  the  solitary  settler — 
the  wandering  Indian  his  only  and  ofl:en  dubious  visitor. 
His  road  to  the  nearest  market  is  through  pathless  woods 
and  unfathomed  creeks.  Over  that  trackless  way  he  must 
drag  his  produce,  if  he  has  any  to  sell ;  or  carry  his  provis- 
ions, if  he  has  money  to  buy  any.  He  begins  life  anew,  as 
though  he  were  the  first  man  turned  out  of  Eden  to  seek 


200 


AMONG  THB  AMERICANS. 


subsistence  in  an  untrodden  land.  He  encounters  isolation, 
dreariness,  privation,  and  often  despair,  under  which  many 
sink,  while  those  who  hardily  succeed  generally  become 
animalized  in  the  determined  struggle.  The  ordinary  emi- 
grant  from  England  passes  from  the  brightness,  convenience 
and  abounding  society  of  cities  to  the  silence  of  the  forest 
and  the  companionship  of  unknown  creatures,  who  beset  or 
crawl  in  his  path.  His  new  destiny  is  to  fight  the  sullen 
and  fruitful  wilderness,  which  accords  him  plenty  if  he  con- 
quers it,  or  gives  him  but  a  grave  if  he  fails.  It  is  of  the 
nature  of  a  merciful  thing  to  mitigate  the  bitterness  of  this 
experience.  Co-operation  can  smooth  the  path  of  this  form 
of  enterprise.  It  can  collect  families  to  go  out  together.  It 
can  procure  them  right  inform'ation.  It  can  provide  a  con< 
ductor  on  their  passage  out,  and  convey  them  to  colony  land, 
where  houses  are  erected  and  provisions  provided  until  crops 
can  be  raised;  and  it  can  supply  a  practical  director  until 
the  settlers  learn  to  take  care  of  themselves.  Co  operation 
can  take  the  peril  and  uncertainty  out  of  friendless  adven- 
ture, and  lend  the  charm  of  comfort  and  security  to  manly 
and  industrial  enterprise.  So  great  are  the  unforeseen 
opportunities  of  free  countries  and  cheap  lands,  that  even 
isolated  emigrants — able  to  incur  hardships  with  spirit  and 
strength — continually  succeed  and  attain  to  absolute  opu- 
lence; but  even  they  own  that  struggles  which  were  avoid- 
able, had  organized  emigration  been  available  to  them,  have 
left  savage  or  selfish  marks  upon  their  character,  which  it  is 
the  interest  of  society  to  prevent,  if  it  be  possible,  in  the 
future. 


Bolation, 
h  many 
become 
ry  emi- 
enieuce 
e  forest 
beset  or 
e  sullen 
he  con- 
5  of  the 
I  of  this 
lis  form 
her.  It 
i  a  con< 
^y  land, 
il  crops 
until 
eration 
adven- 
manly 
►reseen 
even 
it  and 
opu- 
avoid- 
,  have 
:h  it  is 
n  the 


AMONG  TUB   AMERICANS. 


II 


201 


Articles  published  by  General  Mussey  in  the  "  Sovereign 
Bulletin  "  of  Washington  on  **  Organized  Colonization  "  are 
wise  and  comprehensive.  The  plan  devised  in  New  York 
by  the  Co-operative  Colony  Aid  Association  has  for  its 
object — To  purchase  land  in  a  salubrious  spot  adjacent  to  a 
city ;  to  arrange  a  park  in  the  centre  of  the  colony,  erect  a 
school-house  for  the  education  of  the  children,  and  a  co-ope- 
rative store  to  supply  the  provisions  of  the  settlers;  put  up 
tenements  for  them  to  enter  upon,  and  apportion  farm  hold- 
ings necessary  for  their  subsistence;  and  so  soon  as  the  pro- 
duce of  an  emigrant's  labor  has  repaid  all  outlay  on  his 
account,  to  convey  to  him  absolute  possession  of  his  allotted 
estate.  In  the  meantime  a  travelling  agent  may  conduct 
groups  of  emigrants  from  the  land  where  they  embark  to 
the  colony,  where  a  resident  director  will  advise  them  in 
their  employment  until  each  colonist  becomes  the  owner  of 
his  apportioned  estate.  The  organizers  of  the  colony  intend 
to  keep  their  aid  clear  alike  from  charity  or  profit.  A  return 
of  a  moderate  interest  upon  the  capital  used,  until  it  is  re- 
paid, is  all  they  seek.  The  object  of  co-operation  is  to 
encourage  self-help,  and  to  assist  it  without  patronage. 
Whether  aims  so  sensible,  so  moderate,  and  so  free  from 
Utopianism  as  these  can  be  carried  out,  remains  to  be  seen. 

It  soon  appeared  to  me  that  there  was  a  Babel  of  land 
agents,  and  no  authoritative  voice  amongst  them.  No 
emigrant  setting  out  here,  no  emigrant  arriving  there,  could 
tell  to  whom  to  listen,  or  where  to  settle.  Many  agents 
were  entirely  honest,  but  few  persons  ordinarily  accessible 
knew  which  was  which.  Choice  of  land  was  as  much  a  lot. 
tery  in  New  York  as  London.    There  was  no  standard  by 


2oa 


AMONG  THB^AMSRICANS* 


which  to  compare  any  man's  statements,  and  no  one  knew 
all  the  thirty-seven  States  and  Territories  of  the  United 
States,  or  what  Province  to  choose  in  the  Dominion  of  Can- 
ada. No  person,  unless  he  was  a  very  old  man,  could  pru- 
dently advise  an  emigrant  to  go  anywhere,  since  only  such 
an  adviser  might  hope  to  be  dead  before  the  emigrant  wrote 
home  to  say  that  he  had  been  sent  to  quite  the  wrong  place. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  a  State  book  was  wanted,  setting  forth 
the  estimated  quantities  of  land  open  to  enterprise  in  every 
State  to  be  had  by  purchase  or  gift,  conditions  of  tenure, 
process  of  acquisition,  arable  quality,  climate,  sanitary  pecu- 
liarities of  the  State,  conditions  of  health  as  to  exposure, 
diet,  and  clothing,  markets  for  labor,  and  commodities  near, 
facilities  of  transport  of  produce,  and  the  purchasing  power 
of  money — ^this  information  would  enable  an  emigrant  to  go 
out  with  his  eyes  open.  Land  agents  may  honestly  be 
ignorant  of  many  things;  a  Government  can  be  informed 
on  all.  Besides,  a  Government  can  be  trusted.  It  will,  as 
a  rule,  neither  lie  nor  exaggerate,  and  its  summary  of  the 
facts  of  all  States  with  which  it  is  connected  will  enable 
anyone  to  test  generally  the  representations  made  by  inter- 
ested individuals.  When  I  had  resolved  to  ask  this  of  the 
Government  of  Washington,  I  thought  it  becoming  in  me, 
as  an  English  subject,  first  to  ask  it^  of  our  Government  at 
Ottawa. 

The  steps  taken  to  that  end,  and  the  interviews  accorded 
me  thereupon,  have  already  been  narrated. 

America  is  to  civilization  what  France  is  to  Europe — ^the 
seed  land  of  progress  and  equality.  It  is  the  empire  where 
ideas  reign.    Thought  grows  there  like  their  forests.    En- 


AMOifO  THE  AMERICANS. 


)iao3 


!  knew 
United 
3f  Can- 
Id  pru- 
ly  such 
it  wrote 
g  place, 
ig  forth 
1  every 
tenure, 
ry  pecu- 
cposure, 
les  near, 
T  power 
nt  to  go 
!stly  be 
iformed 
will,  as 
r  of  the 

enable 
)y  inter- 
s  of  the 

in  me, 
ment  at 

iccorded 

>pe — ^the 
e  where 
,    En- 


terprise is  in  the  air.  Equity  in  labor  may  extend  there  as 
well  as  equity  in  trade.  Think  what  that  means  in  com- 
merce! In  America  few  things  are  what  they  seem.  No 
one  imagines  that  prepared  provisions  are  pure.  Any  man 
will  admit  that  **  hciesty  is  the  best  policy,*'  but  many  seem 
afraid  to  try  it.  HoAest  quality,  honest  weight,  honest 
price — that  means  morality  in  daily  life.  Co-operation  not 
only  makes  it  possible,  but  makes  it  profitable.  It  was  see* 
ing  this  that  induced  ministers  of  religion  to  volunteer  their 
high  names  to  further  this  movement.  Did  not  the  Marquis 
of  Ripon  tell  us  at  Manchester  of  his  regret  that  the  co- 
operative principle  of  according  to  labor  a  participation  in 
profit  had  made  small  progress  in  England,  during  the 
thirty  years  that  he  had  known  the  movement?  Americans 
would  die  of  this  dilatoriness.  It  would  be  alike  a  mercy 
to  labor  and  capital  to  take  this  idea  to  that  more  discerning 
land.  One  day  I  may  ask  the  Government  of  Australia  for 
an  emigrant  book,  like  that  asked  for  in  Washington  and 
Ottawa.  To  us  it  is  a  muctcr  of  indifference  to  what  coun- 
try emigrants  may  go.  Our  object  is  to  see  that  they  go 
from  England  intelligently,  and  not  ignorantly,  and  that  the 
advantages  co-operation  may  offer  shall  be  available  to 
them.  From  the  State  departments  of  the  Canadian  and 
American  Governments  I  have  received  valuable  maps,  and 
sufficient  volumes  to  form  a  library  for  the  Guild. 

From  Washington  I  received  475  valuable  maps  of  sev- 
enteen of  the  chief  States  of  America;  these,  with  other 
documents  given  me  by  the  Canadian  Government,  together 
with  numerous  letters  and  schemes  from  correspondents,  I 
have  transferred  to  the  Guild  for  the  use  of  co-operative. 


204 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


secular,  and  working  men's  societies  and  clubs.  Mr.  Alsager 
Hay  Hill,  editor  of  the  "Labor  News,"  15  Russell  street, 
Covent  Garden,  London,  has  knowledge  and  means  of 
advising  emigrants.  His  disinterested  service  of  working 
people  is  widely  known.  Many  letters  which  I  have 
received  from  land  agents  are  marked  by  candor  and  circum- 
stance of  statement,  are  full  of  interest  and  valuable  infor- 
mation, and  confidence  may  manifestly  be  placed  in  the 
writers.  Any  colony  aid  committee  need  not  seek  to  super- 
sede nor  conflict  with  already  well-organized  arrangements 
which  individual  agencies  may  have  established.  Many 
States  in  Australia,  as  also  in  Canada  or  America,  have 
authorized  agents,  official  and  responsible,  for  the  sale  of 
State  lands.  All  an  English  committee  require  to  do  is  to 
devise  a  plan  of  co-operative  emigration,  and  carry  it  out  as 
an  example  and  model  to  others.  By  communication  with 
individuals  and  official  agents  they  might  be  induced  to  add 
co-operative  features,  facilities,  and  securities  to  their  plans. 
It  is  no  object,  nor  necessity  of  an  English  society,  to  con- 
duct the  business  of  the  world  themselves,  but  to  induce 
and  by  example  encourage  all  concerned  in  trade,  commerce, 
and  emigration,  to  conduct  it,  as  fat  as  possible,  upon  co- 
operative lines.  Thus  a  knowledge  of  associate  principles 
may  be  carried,  as  it  were,  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind  to 
the  four  comers  of  the  world,  and  made  enduring  in  men's 
minds  by  the  sense  of  timely,  profitable,  and  disinterested 
service.    , 

I  care  for  emigration  exactly  as  I  care  for  co-operation — 
as  the  cause  of  the  poor,  not  of  the  rich.  I  am  not  for  that 
emigration  which  takes  away  the  well-paid  workman  from 


AMONG  THB  AMBRICANS. 


305 


\lsager 
1  street, 
leans  of 
\rorking 
I  have 
circum- 
,e  infor- 
1  in  the 
o  swper- 
gements 
Many 
:a,  have 
i  sale  of 
do  is  to 
it  out  as 
ion  with 
d  to  add 
ir  plans, 
to  con- 
induce 
mmerce, 
ipon  co- 
rinciples 
wind  to 
n  men's 
iterested 

ration — 
for  that 
an  from 


a  good  employer.  But  I  am  for  the  emigration  of  all  those 
who  cannot  find  a  well-spread  table  for  their  families  here. 
And  it  is  the  interest  of  all  of  us  that  emigration  should  be 
in  the  future  co-operative,  as  it  will  diminish  the  competi- 
tion which  will  arise  otherwise  among  isolated  settlers,  and 
it  will  develop  social  life  where  it  is  most  needed.  English- 
men and  English  ideas  are  welcome  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada  and  it  is  to  the  interest  of  this  country  that 
freedom,  civilization,  and  social  life  should  be  strengthened 
by  the  solidity  of  English  thought.  Besides,  it  must  be 
obvious  to  all  who  are  familiar  with  public  affairs  that  the 
world  has  changed.  Industrial  society  has  reached  a  new 
stage.  New  forces,  new  conditions,  and  new  opportunities 
now  exist.  Europe  is  crowded.  Crowns,'feudalism,  privi- 
lege, partial  laws,  and  devouring  armaments,  deprive  the 
common  people  of  subsistence  or  condemn  them  to  perpet- 
ual precariousness.  Here  in  England  we  have  surplus 
workers;  abroad  there  are  unoccupied  acres,  where  a  hun- 
dred millions  of  families  may  dwell  in  opulence  and  owner- 
ship. Here  the  Government  offers  to  workmen  only  the  lot 
of  the  soldier  or  the  fate  of  the  pauper.  The  sole  deliver- 
ance is  that  of  wedding  the  people  to  the  'prairies.  The 
new  cry  of  progress  is— dispersion.  If  workmen  are  wise 
they  will  train  no  more  children  for  mine  or  mill.  Mechan- 
ics only  minister  to  luxury  they  can,  as  a  rule,  never  taste. 
Children  should  be  trained  for  the  field.  Their  eyes  should 
be  taught  to  look  abroad.  They  should  be  familiarized 
with  the  literiature  of  adventure,  and  fed  with  the  inspira- 
tion of  distant  enterprise.  No  education  is  of  any  value  to 
them  which  does  not  include  that  of  the  farm,  and  soil,  and 


ao6 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


crops,  and  climates.  Thh  steamship  will  carry  them  to  lands 
of  independence  in  ten  days.  I  for  one  say  to  mechanics, 
Beg  no  more  for  employment,  higgle  and  supplicate  no 
more  for  hopeless  increase  of  wages — go  away.  The 
farmer  does  not  want  you,  the  manufacturer  does  not  want 
you,  the  tradesman  does  not  want  you,  the  poor-law  guar- 
dians do  not  want  you — go  away.  You  have  nothing  to 
gain  by  violence — ^you  ought  not  to  seek  anything  from 
pity.  Learn  from  the  negro  of  the  South  if  you  cannot 
learn  from  your  own  pride — go  away.  Wait  not  around  the 
shopkeeper's  till  for  the  dole  of  workhouse  rates.  Hang  no 
more  round  the  doors  of  the  Poor-law  Union — go  away. 
Be  no  recruits  in  the  hateful  wars  of  empire.  Shed  not 
your  blood  in  carrying  desolation  and  death  among  nations 
as  honest  and  more  unfortunate  than  yourselves.  No  terror 
or  toil  of  the  wilderness  can  equal  the  peril  and  shame  of 
this — go  away.  Let  those  who  will  *  rectify  frontiers* — 
your  duty  is  to  *  rectify  the  frontier '  of  poverty  and  depen- 
dence. Let  those  who  have  just  employers  honor  them 
and  continue  in  their  service.  Let  all  who  can  command 
adequate  subsistence  here  remain  and  increase  the  honest 
renown  and  prosperity  of  their  native  land.  But  let  the 
poor  save  a  little  capital  at  co-operative  stores,  and  join  the 
great  fortunes  of  those  nations  where  freedom  and  equality 
dwell;  and  where  wealth  awaits  all  who  have  fortitude, 
common  sense,  courage,  and  industry.  To  all  who  by  gen- 
erous care  of  others  endow  emigrants  with  co-operative 
knowledge  and  create  for  them  co-operative  facilities — to 
them  will  belong  the  praise  of  advancing  progress  without 
conflict,  of  saving  labor  and  capital  from  the  ultimate  strife 


AMONG  THE  AMBRXCAN8. 


ao7 


to  lands 
:hanic8, 
cate  no 
,     The 
[)t  yrant 
,w  guar- 
thing  to 
ig  from 
1  cannot 
ound  the 
Hang  no 
fo  away. 
Shed  not 
y  nations 
^o  terror 
shame  of 
jntiers' — 
depen- 
lor  them 
command 
le  honest 
let  the 
1  join  the 
equality 
brtitude, 
by  gen- 
operative 
ilitiea— to 
s  without 
ate  strife 


of  blood,  and  of  insuring  the  prosperity  of  every  honest 
interest,  beyond  the  dreams  of  statesmanship. 

Since  these  words  were  spoken  I  have  seen  Lord  Duffer- 
in's  just  and  wise  admission  made  at  Toronto,  that  emigra- 
tion benefits  alike  the  country  which  is  left  and  the  coun- 
try which  is  adopted.  Since  then  the  question  of  the  land 
bids  fair  to  swallow  up  all  others.  Workmen  are  begin- 
ning now  to  listen  to  the  cry  of  Ebenezer  Elliott  raised  fifty 
years  ago— - 

O,  pallid  Wantl  O,  Labor  stark  I 
Behold,  behold,  the  Second  Ark  I 
The  Land!  the  Land  I 

It  was  the  same  far-seeing,  but  then  neglected,  Anti-Corn 
Law  Rhymer — the  last  of  the  poets  who  put  politics  into 
his  verses — ^who  wrote — 

He  ties  up  hands 

Who  locks  up  lands : 
The  lands  which  can't  be  sold  and  bought 
Bring  men  and  States  to  worse  than  nought: 
The  lands  which  can  be  freely  sold 
Are  worth  a  world  of  barren  gold. 

It  has  taken  fifty  years  to  make  English  statesmen  and  the 
English  people  understand  this. 


*  A  STRANGER  IN  AMERICA. 

NO  person  could  be  more  completely  a  stranger  than  I 
was  in  America.  After  being  interested  in  Ameri- 
can history  and  public  affairs  from  my  youth,  I  saw  the 
country  for  the  first  time  in  August  last.  Being  born  in 
Midland  England,  I  had  more  English  insularity  of  thought 
than  most  of  my  countrymen;  and  having  a  certain  wilful- 
ness of  opinion,  which  few  shared  at  home,  and  probably 
fewer  abroad,  I  had  little  to  recommend  me  in  the  United 
States.  Years  ago  I  knew  some  publicists  there  of  mark 
.and  character,  but  that  was  before  the  great  war  in  which 
many  of  them  perished.  My  friend  Horace  Greeley  was 
dead,  Lloyd  Garrison  was  gone,  with  both  of  whom  I  had 
spent  well-remembered  days.  Theodore  Parker,  the  *  Ju- 
piter of  the  pulpit,'  as  Wendell  Phillips  calls  him,  paid  me  a 
visit  in  England  before  he  went  to  Florence  to  die.  To 
me,  therefore,  it  was  contentment  enough  to  walk  unknown 
through  some  of  America's  marvellous  cities,  and  into  the 
not  less  wondrous  space  which  lies  beyond  them. 

For  one  who  has  seen  but  half  a  great  continent,  and  that 
but  for  a  short  period,  to  write  a  book  about  the  country 
would  be  certainly  absurd.     At  the  same  time,  to  have 


*  From  the  "  Nineteenth  Century." 


2IO 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


been  in  a  new  world  for  three  months  and  be  unable  to  give 
any  account  whatever  of  it,  would  be  still  more  absurd.  To 
pretend  to  know  much  is  presumption — to  profess  to  know 
nothing  is  idiocy.  A  voyager  who  had  seen  a  strange 
creature  in  tlie  Atlantic  Ocean  as  he  passed  it,  might  be  able 
to  give  only  a  poor  account  of  it ;  but  if  he  had  seen  it  every 
day  for  three  months,  and  even  been  upon  its  back,  he 
would  be  a  very  stupid  person  if  he  could  give  no  idea 
whatever  of  it.  I  saw  the  United  States  and  Canada  from 
the  Atlantic  seaboard  and  from  Montreal  to  Kansas  City  for 
that  lengtl)  of  time,  travelling  on  its  lakes  and  land,  and  may 
give  some  notion,  at  least  to  those  who  never  were  there,  of 
what  I  observed — not  of  its  trades  or  manufactures,  or  sta- 
tistics, or  politics,  or  churches,  but  of  the  ways,  manners, 
and  spirit  of  the  people. 

After  all  I  had  read  or  heard,  it  seemed  to  me  that  there 
were  great  features  of  social  life  there  unregarded  or  misre- 
garded.  New  York  itself  is  a  miracle  which  a  large  book 
would  not  be  sufficient  to  explain.  When  I  stepped  ashore 
there,  I  thought  I  was  in  a  larger  Rotterdam ;  when  I  found 
my  way  to  the  Broadway,  it  seemed  to  me  as  though  I  was 
in  Paris,  and  that  Paris  had  taken  to  business.  There  were 
quaintness,  grace  and  gaiety,  brightness,  and  grimness,  all 
about.  The  Broadway  I  thought  a  Longway,  for  my  first 
invitation  in  it  was  to  No.  1455.  My  first  days  in  the  city 
were  spent  at  No.  i  Broadway,  in  the  Washington  Hotel, 
allured  thither  by  its  English  military  and  diplomatic  asso- 
ciations, going  back  to  the  days  when  an  Indian  war-whoop 
was  possible  in  the  Broadway,  At  that  end,  you  are  dazed 
by  a  forest  of  tall  telegraphic  poles,  and  a  clatter  by  night 


1  to  give 
rd.  To 
;o  know 

strange 
t  be  able 
,  it  every 
back,  he 

no  idea 
ada  from 
i  City  for 
,  and  may 
;  there,  of 
!S,  or  sta- 
manners, 

:hat  there 
or  misre- 
irge  book 
led  ashore 
:n  I  found 
gh  I  was 
Ihere  were 
|mness,  all 
my  first 
the  city 
on  Hotel, 
atic  asso- 
ar-whoop 
are  dazed 
by  night 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


,^" 


and  day  that  no  pathway  of  Pandemonium  could  rival. 
Car-bells,  omnibus-bells,  drayhorse-bells,  railway-bells  and 
locomotives  in  the  air,  were  resounding  night  and  day.  An 
engineer  turns  off  his  steam  at  your  bedroom  window. 
When  I  got  up  to  see  what  was  the  matter,  I  found  engine 
No.  99  almost  within  reach  of  my  arm,  and  the  other 
ninety-eight  had  been  there  that  morning  before  I  awoke. 
When  one  day  at  a  railway  junction  I  heard  nine  train-bells 
being  rung  by  machinery,  it  sounded  as  though  Disestab- 
lishment had  occurred,  and  all  the  parish  churches  of  Eng- 
land were  being  imported. 

Of  all  the  cities  of  America,  Washington  is  the  most 
superb  in  its  brilliant  flashes  of  space.  The  drowsy  Poto- 
mac flows  in  sight  of  splendid  buildings.  Washington  is 
the  only  city  I  have  ever  seen  which  no  wanton  architect 
or  builder  can  spoil.  Erect  what  they  will,  they  cannot 
obliterate  its  glory  of  space.  If  a  man  makes  a  bad  speech, 
the  audience  can  retreat;  if  he  buys  a  dull  book,  he  need  not 
read  it — ^while  if  a  dreary  house  be  erected,  three  genera- 
tions living  near  it  may  spend  their  melancholy  lives  in 
sight  of  it.  If  an  architect  in  each  city  could  be  hanged 
now  and  then,  with  discrimination,  what  a  mercy  it  would 
be  to  mankind  I  Washington  at  least  is  safe.  One  Sunday 
morning  I  went  to  the  church,  which  is  attended  by  the 
President  and  Mrs.  Hayes,  to  hear  the  kind  of  sermon 
preached  in  their  presence.  But  the  walk  through  the  city 
was  itself  a  sermon.  I  never  knew  all  the  glory  of  sunlight 
in  this  world  until  then.  The  clear,  calm  sky  seemed 
hundreds  of  miles  high.  Over  dome  and  mansion,  river  and 
park,  streets  and  squares,  the  sunlight  shed  what  appeared 


212 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


to  my  European  eyes  an  unearthly  beauty.  I  lingered  in  it 
until  I  was  late  at  church.  The  platform  occupied  by 
preachers  in  America  more  resembles  an  altar  than  our  pul- 
pit, and  the  freedom  of  action  and  grace  in  speaking  I 
thought  greater  than  among  us.  The  sermon  before  the 
President  was  addressed  to  young  men,  and  was  remarkably 
wise,  practical,  definite,  and  inspiring ;  but  the  transition  of 
tone  was,  at  times,  more  abrupt  and  less  artistic  than  in 
other  eminent  American  preachers  whom  I  had  the  pleasure 
to  hear. 

Niagara  Falls  I  saw  by  sunlight,  electric  light,  and  by 
moonlight,  without  thinking  much  of  them — until  walking 
on  the  American  side  I  came  upon  the  Niagara  River, 
which  I  had  never  heard  of.  Of  course  water  must  come 
from  somewhere  to  feed  the  Falls — I  knew  that;  but  I  had 
never  learned  from  guide-books  that  its  coming  was  any- 
thing remarkable.  When,  however,  I  saw  a  mighty  moun- 
tain of  turbulent  water  as  wide  as  the  eye  could  reach,  a 
thousand  torrents  rushing  as  it  were  from  the  clouds,  splash- 
ing and  roaring  down  to  the  great  Falls,  I  though  the  idea 
of  the  Deluge  must  have  begun  there.  No  aspect  of  nature 
ever  gave  me  such  a  sense  of  power  and  terror.  I  feared 
to  remain  where  I  stood.  The  frightful  waters  seemed 
alive.  When  I  went  back  to  the  Canadian  side  I  thought 
as  much  of  Niagara  as  anyone — had  I  seen  the  Duke  of 
Argyll's  recent  published  *  Impressions '  of  them  (he  also 
discovered  the  Niagara  Rapids)  before  I  went  there,  I  should 
have  approached  Niagara  Falls  with  feelings  very  different 
from  those  with  which  I  first  saw  them. 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


213 


red  in  it 
pied  by 
our  pul- 
aking  I 
ifore  the 
narkably 
isition  of 
than  in 
pleasure 

,  and  by 
walking 
•a  River, 
ust  come 
but  I  had 
was  any- 
ty  moun- 
reach,  a 
s,  splash- 
.  the  idea 
of  nature 
I  feared 
s  seemed 
thought 
Duke  of 
(he  also 
,  I  should 
different 


In  the  Guildhall,  London  I  have  seen  city  orators  point 
their  merchant  audience  to  the  statues  of  great  men  there, 
and  appeal  to  the  historic  glories  of  the  country.  Such  an 
audience  would  respond  as  though  they  had  some  interest 
in  the  appeal — feeling,  however,  that  these  things  more  con- 
cerned the  *  great  families '  who  held  the  country,  whom 
they  make  rich  by  their  industry,  who  looked  down  upon 
them  as  buttermen  or  tallow-chandlers.  No  orator  address- 
ing the  common  people  employs  these  historic  appeals  to 
them.  The  working  class  who  are  enlisted  in  the  army, 
flogged  and  sent  out  to  be  shot,  that  their  fathers  may  find 
their  way  to  the  poorhouse,  under  their  hereditary  rulers, 
are  not  so  sensible  of  the  glory  of  the  country.  The  work- 
ing men,  as  a  rule,  have  no  substantial  interest  in  the  nation- 
al glory :  I  mean  those  of  them  whose  lot  it  is  to  suppli- 
cate for  work,  and  who  have  to  establish  trades'  unions  to 
obtain  adequate  payment  for  it.  Yet  I  well  know  that 
England  has  things  to  be  proud  of  which  America  cannot 
rival.*  At  the  same  time  we  have,  as  Lord  Beaconsfield 
discerned,  *  Two  Nations '  living  side  by  side  in  this  land. 
What  is  wanted  is  that  they  shall  be  one  in  equity  of  means, 
knowledge,  and  jpride.  Nothing  surprised  me  more  than  to 
see  the  parks  of  New  York,  abutting  Broadway,  without  a 
fence  around  the  greensward.  A  million  unresting  feet 
passed  by  them,  and  none  trampled  on  the  delicate  grass — 
while,  in  England,  Board  Schools  put  up  a  prison  wall 

*  Americans  are  not  lacking  in  generous  admissions  iierein,  as  any 
one  may  see  in  William  Winter's  Trip  to  England.  The  reader 
must  go  far  to  find  more  graceful  pages  of  appreciation  of  the  historic, 
civic  and  scenic  beauties  of  this  country. 


214 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


id 


around  them,  so  that  poor  children  cannot  see  a  flower  girl 
go  by  in  the  streets ;  and  the  back  windows  of  the  houses  of 
mechanics  in  Lambeth  remain  blocked  up,  whereby  no  in- 
mate can  look  on  a  green  tree  in  the  Palace  grounds.  In 
Florence,  in  Northampton,  where  the  Holyoke  mountain* 
looks  on  the  ever-winding  Connecticut  River,  as  elsewhere, 
there  are  thousands  of  mansions  to  be  seen  without  a  rail 
around  their  lawns.  Acres  of  plantations  lie  unenclosed 
between  the  beautiful  houses,  where  a  crowd  of  wanderers 
might  rest  unchallenged,  and  watch  mountain,  river,  and 
sky.  In  England  if  an  indigent  wanderer  sat  down  on 
house-ground  or  wayside,  the  probability  is  a  policeman 
would  come  and  look  at  him — the  farmer  would  come  and 
demand  what  he  wanted,  and  the  relieving  officer  would 
suggest  to  him  that  he  had  better  pass  on  to  his  own  parish. 
In  England  the  whole  duty  of  man,  as  set  down  in  the 
workman's  catechism,  is  to  find  out  upon  how  little  he  can 
live.  In  America,  the  workman  sets  himself  to  find  out 
how  much  he  ought  to  have  to  live  upon,  equitably  com- 
pared with  what  falls  to  other  classes.  He  does  not  see 
exactly  how  to  get  it  when  he  has  found  out  the  amount. 
Co-operative  equity  alone  can  show  him  that.  No  doubt 
workmen  are  better  off  in  any  civilized  country  than  work- 

*  In  an  historic  churcliyard  at  the  bottom  of  the  mountain  is  the 
grave  of  Mary  Pynchon,  the  wife  of  Elizur  Holyoke,  the  early  Eng- 
lish settler,  whose  name  the  mountain  bears.  Among  the  commonly 
feeble  epitaphs  of  churchyards  hers  is  remarkable  for  its  grace  and 
vigor.    It  says : 

She  who  lies  here  was,  while  she  stood, 

A  very  glory  of  womanhood. 


AMONG  THB   AMERICANS. 


215 


ower  girl 
houses  of 
;by  no  in- 
unds.  In 
tiountain* 
ilsewhere, 
out  a  rail 
nenclosed 
ivanderers 
■iver,  and 
down  on 
policeman 
come  and 
:er  would 
vn  parish, 
vn  in  the 
tie  he  can 
>  find  out 
ibly  com- 
s  not  see 
i  amount. 
No  doubt 
lan  work- 

itain  is  the 

early  Eng- 

I  commonly 

s  grace  and 


men  were  one  hundred  or  two  hundred  years  ago.  So  are 
the  rich.  The  workmen  whom  I  addressed  in  America  I 
counselled  not  to  trouble  about  comparisons  as  to  their  con- 
dition, but  to  remember  that  there  is  but  one  rule  for  rich 
and  poor,  workmen  and  employer — namely,  that  each  should 
be  free  to  get  all  he  honestly  can.  A  wholesome  distinction 
of  America  is  that  industry  alone  is  universally  honorable 
there,  and  has  good  chances.  There  are  no  common  peo- 
ple there,  in  the  English  sense.  When  speaking  in  the 
Cooper  Institute,  New  York,  I  was  reminded  that  the 
audience  would  resent  being  so  addressed.*  Every  man  in 
America  feels  as  though  he  owns  the  country,  because  the 
charm  of  recognized  equality  and  the  golden  chances  of 
ownership  have  entered  his  mind.  He  is  proud  of  the 
statues  and  the  public  buildings.  The  great  rivers,  the 
trackless  prairies,  the  regal  mountains,  all  seem  his.  Even 
the  steep  curb-stones  of  New  York  and  Boston,  which 
brought  me  daily  distress,  I  was  asked  to  admire — for  some 
reason  yet  unknown  to  me. 

In  England  nobody  says  to  the  visitor  or  foreigner  when 
he  first  meets  him.  What  do  you  think  of  England?  The 
people  do  not  feel  that  they  own  the  country,  or  have  re- 
sponsible control  over  it.  The  country  is  managed  by 
somebody  else.  Not  even  Members  of  Parliament  know 
when  base  treaties  are  made  in  the  nation's  name,  and  dis- 
honoring wars  are  entered  into,   which  the  lives  and   earn- 

*  The  Rev.  R.  Heber  Newton  said  to  me,  "  Remember,  Mr.  Hol- 
yoake,  we  have  no  *  common  people '  in  America.  We  may  have  a 
few  uncommon  ones." 


2l6 


AMONG   THB   AMERICANS. 


ings  of  their  constituents  may  be  confiscated  to  sustain.  All 
that  our  representatives  can  tell  us  is  that  that  is  an  affair  of 
the  Crown.  In  America  there  is  no  Crown,  and  the  people 
are  kings  and  they  know  it.  I  had  not  landed  on  the 
American  shores  an  hour,  before  I  became  aware  that  I  was 
in  a  new  nation,  animated  by  a  new  life  which  I  had  never 
seen.  I  was  three  days  in  the  train  going  from  Ottawa  to 
Chicago.  It  was  my  custom  to  spend  a  part  of  every  day 
in  the  cosy  smoking  saloon  of  the  car,  with  its  red  velvet 
seats,  and  bright  spacious-mouthed  braziers  for  receiving 
lights  or  ashes.  My  object  was  to  study  in  detail  the  strange 
passengers  who  joined  us.  Being  on  the  railway  there 
practically  but  one  class  and  one  fare,  the  gentleman  and  the 
workman,  the  lady  and  •  the  mechanic's  wife,  sit  together 
without  hesitation  or  diffidence.  A  sturdy,  unspeaking  man, 
who  seemed  to  be  a  mechanic,  was  generally  in  the  smoking 
saloon.  He  never  spoke,  except  to  say,  *  Would  I  take  his 
seat?'  when  he  thought  I  was  incommoded  by  a  particularly 
fat  passenger  by  my  side.  *  It  will  suit  me  quite  as  well  to 
smoke  outside  the  car,'  he  would  civilly  say,  if  I  objected  to 
putting  him  to  inconvenience.  On  the  morning  of  the  third 
day,  he  and  I  only  were  sitting  together.  Wishing  to  find 
out  whether  he  could  or  would  talk,  I  asked  him,  *How  far 
are  we  from  Chicago?'  He  looked  at  me  with  sudden 
amazement.  Black  stubbly  hair  covered  his  face  (which  had 
been  unshaven  for  days,  an  unusual  thing  with  Americans) 
At  my  question  every  stubble  seemed  to  start  up  as  he  laid 
his  hand  on  my  knee,  and  said,  *  Have  you  never  been  to 
Chica^^o?'  'How  could  I?'  I  replied;  *  I  am  an  English- 
man travelling  from  London  in  order  to  see  it.'    All  at  once 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


317 


ain.  All 
I  affair  of 
le  people 
d  on  the 
liat  I  was 
ad  never 
Ottawa  to 
iTcry  day 
id  velvet 
receiving 
e  strange 
ay  there 
1  and  the 
together 
ing  man, 
smoking 

take  his 
ticularly 
i  well  to 
jected  to 
:he  third 

to  find 
low  far 

sudden 
lich  had 
lericans) 

he  laid 
been  to 
Cnglish- 

at  once 


looking  at  me  with  pity  and  commiseration,  his  little  deep 
black  eyes  glistening  like  glow-worms  in  the  night  of  his 
dark  face,  he  exclaimed,  laying  his  hand  now  on  my  shoul- 
der, that  his  words  might  be  more  expressive,  *  Sir,  Chicago 
is  the  boss  city  of  the  Universe,'  evidently  thinking  that  I 
might  make  some  futile  attempt  to  compare  it  with  some 
city  of  this  world.  Afterwards  I  learned  that  this  electric 
admirer  of  Chicago  was  a  brakesman  on  the  train.  Yet 
this  man,  who  had  probably  driven  into  the  fiery  city  a 
thousand  times,  had  as  much  delight  in  it,  and  as  much 
pride  in  it,  as  though  he  were  the  owner  of  it.  I  soon  found 
that  it  would  not  be  a  wise  thing  for  a  stranger  to  be  of  a 
different  opinion.  As  I  rode  into  Chicago  three  hours 
later,  I  thought  I  had  never  seen  such  a  lumbering,  dingy 
ramshackle,  crowded,  tumultuous,  boisterous  outside  of  a  city 
before.  When  asked  my  opinion  again,  amid  the  roar  of 
cars  and  hurricane  of  every  kind  of  wagons  and  vehicles,  I 
framed  one  from  which  I  never  departed,  namely,  that  con- 
sidering the  short  time  in  which  Chicago  had  been  built  and 
rebuilt,  it  was  the  most  miraculous  city  I  had  ever  seen. 
This  opinion  was  silent  on  many  details,  and  the  acumen  of 
an  American  questioner  is  not  easily  foiled,  but  as  I  admit- 
ted something  '  miraculous'  about  the  place  my  opinion  was 
tolerated,  as  fulfilling  essential  conditions.  And  when  I 
came  to  see  Chicago's  wondrous  streets  of  business,  its 
hotels  in  which  populations  of  twenty  ordinary  English 
parishes  would  be  lost,  its  splendid  avenues,  its  fine,  noble, 
far-spreading  parks,  and  Lake  Michigan  stretching  out  like 
a  sea  on  the  city  borders — it  did  seem  to  me  a  '  miraculous 
city,'  quite  apart  from  the  happy  days  I  spent  there,  as  the 


/ 


ai8 


AMONO  THE  AMERICANS. 


guest  of  Mr.  Charlton,  of  the  Chicago  and  Alton  railway, 
who  travelled  with  me  through  Canada  and  half  the  United 
States,  that  I  might  see,  without  cost  or  care,  the  civic  and 
Qatural  marvels  of  the  two  countries. 

The  first  hour  I  was  in  New  York,  one,  in  friendly  care 
for  my  reputation  as  a  stranger,  said  to  me,  *  Mind,  if  you 
get  run  over,  do  not  complain — if  you  can  articulate — as  it 
will  go  against  you  on  the  inquest.  In  America  we  run 
over  anybody  in  the  way,  and  if  you  are  knocked  down  it 
will  be  considered  your  fault*  In  America  self-help  (honest 
and  sometimes  dishonest)  is  a  characteristic.  In  Germany 
apprentices  were  required  to  travel  to  acquire  different 
modes  of  working.  If  young  Englishmen  could  be  sent  a 
couple  of  years  to  take  part  in  American  business,  they 
Would  come  back  much  improved.  An  eminent  English 
professor,  whom  I  lately  asked  whether  it  would  not  do  this 
country  good  if  we  could  get  our  peers  to  emigrate,  an- 
swered, *  No  doubt,  if  you  could  smarten  some  of  them  up  a 
bit  first.'  Everywhere  in  America  you  hear  the  injunction, 
*  Hold  on  1*  In  every  vessel  and  car  there  are  means  pro- 
vided for  doing  it :  for  unless  a  man  falls  upon  his  feet — if 
he  does  fall — he  finds  people  too  busy  to  stop  and  pick  him 
up.  The  nation  is  in  commotion.  Life  in  America  is  a 
battle  and  a  march.  Freedom  has  set  the  race  on  fire — 
freedom,  with  the  prospect  of  property.  Americans  are  a 
nation  of  men  who  have  their  own  way,  and  do  very  well 
with  it.  It  is  the  only  country  where  men  are  men  in  this 
sense,  and  the  unusualness  of  the  liberty  bewilders  many, 
who  do  wrong  things  in  order  to  be  sure  they  are  free  to  do 
something.     This  error  is  mostly  made  by  new-comers,  to 


/ 


/ 


/ 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


ai9 


railway, 
!  United 
vie  and 

lly  care 
,  if  you 
e — as  it 
we  run 
iown  it 
(honest 
ermany 
lifferent 

sent  a 
5S,  they 
English 

do  this 
ite,  an- 
;m  up  a 
inction, 
IS  pro- 
feet — if 
:k  him 
a  is  a 

fire — 

are  a 
y  well 
in  this 

many, 
i  to  do 
ers,  to 


whom  freedom  is  a  novelty ;  and  it  is  only  by  trying  eccen- 
tricity that  they  can  test  the  unwonted  sense  of  their  power 
of  self-disposal.  But  as  liberty  grows  into  a  habit,  one  by 
one  the  experimenters  become  conscious  of  the  duty  of  not 
betraying  the  precious  possession,  by  making  it  repulsive. 
Perhaps  self-assertion  seems  a  little  in  excess  of  international 
requirements.  Many  *  citizens'  give  a  stranger  the  impres- 
sion that  they  think  themselves  equal  to  their  superiors,  and 
superior  to  their  equals ;  yet  all  of  them  are  manlier  than 
they  would  be  through  the  ambition  of  each  to  be  equals  of 
anybody  else. 

The  effect  of  American  inspiration  on  Englishmen  was 
strikingly  evident.  I  met  workmen  in  many  cities  whom  I 
had  known  in  former  years  in  England.  They  were  no 
longer  the  same  men.  Here  their  employers  seldom  or 
never  spoke  to  them,*  and  the  workmen  were  rather  glad, 
as  they  feared  the  communication  would  relate  to  a  reduc- 
tion of  wages.  They  thought  it  hardly  prudent  to  look  a 
foreman  or  overseer  in  the  face.  Masters  are  more  genial 
as  a  rule,  in  these  days;  but  in  the  days  when  last  I  visited 
these  workmen  at  their  homes  in  Lancashire,  it  never  en- 
tered into  their  heads  to  introduce  me  to  their  employers. 
But  when  I  met  them  in  America  they  instantly  proposed 
to  introduce  me  to  the  mayor  of  the  city.    This  surprised 

♦Long  years  ago,  when  I  first  knew  Rochdale,  workmen  at  Mr. 
Brighfs  mills  used  to  tell  me  with  pride,  that  he  was  not  like  other 
employers.  He  not  only  inquired  about  them,  but  of  them ;  and  to 
this  day  they  will  stop  him  in  the  mill  yard  and  ask  his  advice  in  per- 
sonal difficulties,  when  they  are  sure  of  willing  and  friendly  counsel 
from  him. 


220 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


me  very  much ;  for  when  they  were  in  England  they  could 
not  have  introduced  me  to  the  relieving  officer  of  their 
parish,  with  any  advantage  to  me,  had  I  needed  to  know 
him.  These  men  were  still  workmen,  and  they  did  intro* 
duce  me  to  the  mayor  as  *a  friend  of  theirs;'  and  in  an  easy, 
confident  manner,  as  one  gentleman  would  speak  to  another, 
they  said,  *  they  should  be  obliged  if  he  would  show  me  the 
civic  features  of  the  city.'  The  mayor  would  do  so,  order 
his  carriage,  and  with  the  most  pleasant  courtesy  take  me  to 
every  place  of  interest.  To  this  hour  I  do  not  know  whom 
I  wondered  at  most — the  men  or  the  mayor.  In  some  cases 
the  mayor  w^s  himself  a  manufacturer,  and  it  was  a  pleasure 
to  see  that  the  men  were  as  proud  of  the  mayor  as  they  were 
of  the  city. 

One  day  a  letter  came,  inviting  me  to  Chautauqua  Lake, 
saying  that  if  I  would  allow  it  to  be  said  that  I  would  come 
to  a  Convention  of  Liberals  there,  many  other  persons  would 
go  there  to  meet  me,  and  then  I  should  see  everybody  at 
once.  I  answered  that  it  >vas  exactly  what  I  wanted — *  to 
see  everybody  at  once.'  In  England  we  think  a  good  deal 
of  having  to  go  ten  miles  into  the  country  to  hold  a  public 
meeting;  but  knowing  Americans  were  more  enterprising, 
I  expected  I  should  have  to  go  seventeen  miles  there.  When 
the  day  arrived  and  I  asked  for  a  ticket  for  Chatauqua  Lake, 
the  clerk,  looking  at  the  money  I  put  down,  said,  *  Do  you 
know  you  are  seven  hundred  miles  from  that  place?'  Hav- 
ing engaged  to  speak  in  the  *  Parker  Memorial  Hall'  to  the 
Twenty-eighth  Congregational  Church  of  Boston  the  next 
Sunday,  there  was  no  escape  from  a  journey  of  fourteen 
hundred  miles  in  the  meantime,  and  I  made  it.      At  Chau- 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


221 


fnuqua  was  n  sight  I  had  never  seen.  A  hall,  looking  out  on 
to  the  great  lake,  as  full  of  amateur  philosophers  and  philoso- 
pheresses — all  with  their  heads  full  of  schemes.  There  were 
at  least  a  hundred  persons,  each  with  an  armful  or  reticule- 
full  of  first  principles,  ready  written  out,  for  the  government 
of  mankind  in  general.  It  was  clear  to  me  that  the  Gov- 
ernment at  Washington  will  never  be  in  the  difficulty  we 
were  when  Lord  Hampton  had  only  ten  minutes  in  whjch 
to  draw  up  for  us  a  new  Constitution — our  Cabinet  not 
having  one  on  hand.  If  President  Hayes  is  ever  in  want  of 
a  policy,  he  will  find  a  good  choice  at  Chautauqua  Lake. 
My  ancient  friend  Louis  Masquericr  had  the  most  syste- 
matic scheme  there  of  all  of  them.  I  knew  it  well,  for  the 
volume  explaining  it  was  dedicated  to  me.  He  had  mapped 
out  the  whole  globe  into  small  Homestead  parallelograms. 
An  ingenious  friend  (Dr.  Hollick)  had  kindly  completed  the 
scheme  for  him  one  day  when  it  was  breaking  down.  He 
pointed  out  to  Masquerier  that  there  was  a  Httle  hitch  at  the 
poles — where  the  meridian  lines  converge,  which  rendered 
perfect  squares  difficult  to  arrange  there.  This  was  quite 
unforeseen  by  the  Homestead  artificer.  The  system  could 
not  give  way,  that  was  clear;  and  nature  was  obstinate  at 
the  poles.  So  it  was  suggested  that  Masquerier  should  set 
apart  the  spaces  at  the  poles  to  be  planted  with  myrtle* 
sweet-briar,  roses,  and  other  aromatic  plants,  which  might 
serve  to  diffuse  a  sweet  scent  over  the  Homesteads  other- 
wise covering  the  globe.  The  inventor  adopted  the  com- 
promise, and  thus  the  difficulty  was,  as  Paley  says,  *  gotten 
over;'  and  if  Arctic  explorers  in  the  future  should  be  sur- 
prised at  finding  a  fragrant  garden  at  the  North  Pole,  they 


222 


AMONO  1  HK   AMERICANS. 


will  know  how  it  came  there.  In  Great  Britain,  where  a 
few  gentlemen  consider  it  their  province  to  make  religion, 
politics,  and  morality  for  the  people,  it  is  counted  ridiculous 
presumption  that  common  persons  should  attempt  to  form 
opinions  upon  these  subjects  for  themselves.  I  know  the 
danger  to  progress  brought  about  by  those  whom  Colonel 
Ingersoll  happily  calls  its  '  Fool  Friends.'  Nevertheless,  to 
me  this  humble  and  venturous  activity  of  thought  at  Chau- 
tauqua was  a  welcome  sight.  Eccentricity  is  better  than 
the  deadness  of  mind.  Out  of  the  crude  form  of  an  idea  the 
perfect  idea  comes  in  time.  From  a  boy  I  have  been  my- 
self of  Butler's  opinion  that — 

Reforming  schemes  are  none  of  mine, 
To  mend  the  world's  a  great  design, 
Like  he  who  toils  in  little  boat 
To  tug  to  him  the  ship  afloat. 

Nevertheless,  since  I  am  in  the  ship  as  much  as  others,  and 
have  to  swim  or  sink  with  it,  I  am  at  least  concerned  to 
know  on  what  principles,  and  to  what  port,  it  is  being 
steered ;  and  those  are  mere  ballast  who  do  not  try  to  find 
as  much  out.  Dr.  Erasmus  Darwin's  definition  of  a  fool 
was  *  one  who  never  tried  an  experiment.'  In  this  sense 
there  is  hardly  a  fool  in  America — while  the  same  sort  of 
persons  block  up  the  streets  in  England — newspapers  of 
note  are  published  to  encourage  them  to  persevere  in  their  im- 
becility, and  they  have  the  largest  representation  in  Parlia- 
ment of  any  class  in  the  kingdom.  Everybody  knows  that 
tio  worse  misfortune  can  happen  to  a  man  here  than  to  have 
a  new  idea;  while  in  America  a  man  is  not  thought  much 
of  if  he  has  not  one  on  hand. 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


223 


wrhere  a 
religion^ 
diculous 
to  form 
low  tlie 
Colonel 
leless,  to 
It  Chair- 
ter  than 
idea  the 
Jen  my- 


ers,  and 

rned  to 

is  being 

to  find 

a  fool 
fis  sense 

sort  of 
ipers  of 
leir  im- 
Parlia- 
ws  that 
to  have 
it  much 


Yet  a  visitor  soon  sees  that  everything  is  not  perfect  in 
America,  and  its  thinkers  and  statesmen  know  it  as  well  as 
we  do.     But  they  cannot  improve  everything  *  right  away.' 
We  do  not  do  that  in  England.     In  America  I  heard  men 
praised  as  *  level-headed,'  without  any  regard  to  their  being 
moral-headed,     I  heard  men  called  *  smart '  who  were  sim- 
ply rascals.    Then  I  remembered  that  we  had  judges  who 
gave  a  few  months'  imprisonment  to  a  bank  director  who 
had  plundered  a  thousand  families,  and  five  years'  penal 
servitude  to  a  man  who  had  merely  struck  a  lord.     In 
Chicago  you  can  get  a  cup  of  good  coffee  without  chicory 
at  Race's  served  on  a  marble  table,  with  cup  and  saucer  not 
chipped,  and  a  clean  serviette^  for  five  cents.     Yet  you  have 
to  pay  anywhere  for  having  your  shoes  blacked  400  per 
cent,  more  than  in  London.     The  Government  there  will 
give  you  160  acres  of  land,  with  trees  upon  it  enough  to 
build  a  small  navy ;  and  they  charged  me  three  shillings  in 
Chicago  for  a  light  walking-stick  which  could  be  had  in  Lon- 
don for  sixpence.    All  sorts  of  things  cheap  in  England  are 
indescribably  dear  \n  America.     Protection  must  be  a  good 
thing  for  somebody ;  if  the  people  Tike  it,  it  is  no  business  of 
ours.     We  have,  I  remembered,  something  very  much  like 
it  at  home.     We  are  a  nation  of  shopkeepers,  and  the  shop- 
keepers' interest  is  to  have  customers;   yet  until  lately  we 
taked  every  purchaser  who  came  into  a  town.  If  he  walked 
in,  which  meant  that  he  was  poor  and  not  likely  to  buy 
anything,  the  turnpike  was  free  to  him ;  but,  if  he  came  on 
horseback,  which  implied  that  he  had  money  in  his  pocket, 
we  taxed  his  horse;  and  if  he  came  in  a  carnage,  which  im- 
plied possession  of  still  larger  purchasing  power,  we  taxed 


224 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


every  wheel  of  his  carnage  to  encourage  him  to  keep  away. 
One  day  I  said,  that  to  this  hour,  our  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  taxes  every  person  who  travels  by  railway, 
every  workman  going  to  offer  his  labor,  every  employer  seek- 
ing hands,  every  merchant  who  travels  to  buy  or  sell :  in  an 
industrial  country  we  tax  every  man  who  moves  about  in 
our  trains.  Englishmen,  who  had  been  out  of  this  country 
twenty  years,  could  not  believe  this.  When  they  found 
thift  I  was  the  Chairman  of  a  Committee  who  had  yet  to 
agitate  for  free  trade  in  locomotion  in  England,  they  w(tre 
humiliated  and  ashamed  that  England  had  still  to  put  up 
with  the  infcredible  impost.  Many  things  I  had  heard 
spoken  of  as  absurd  among  Uncle  Sam's  people,  seemed  to 
me  less  so  when  I  saw  the  conditions  which  have  begotten 
their  unusualness.  Here  we  regard  America  as  the  eccen- 
tric seed-land  of  Spiritism;  but  when  I  met  the  Prairie 
Schooners,*  travelling  into  the  lone  plains  of  Kansas,  I 
could  understand  that  a  solitary  settler  there  would  be  very 
glad  to  have  a  spirit  or  two  in  his  lone  log-house.  Where 
no  doctors  can  be  had,  the  itinerant  medicine-vendor  is  a 
welcome  visitor,  and,  providing  his  drugs  are  harmless,  im- 
agination effects  a  cure — imagination  is  the  angel  of  the 
mind  there.  We  are  apt  to  think  that  youths  and  maidens 
are  too  self-sufficient  in  their  manners  in  those  parts.  They 
could  not  exist  at  all  in  those  parts,  save  for  those  qualities. 
We  regard  railways  as  being  recklessly  constructed — but 
a  railroad  of  any  kind  is  a  mercy  if  it  puts  remote  settlers  in 

*  A  long,  rickety  wagon  drawn  generally  by  one  horse,  carrying 
the  emigrant,  his  family  and  furniture,  in  search  of  a  new  settlement. 


;p  away. 

r  of  the 

railway, 

yer  seek- 

11:   in  an 

about  in 

country 

;y  found 

ad  yet  to 

ley  wt;re 

o  put  up 

:id  heard 

cemed  to 

begotten 

le  ecccn- 

j  Prairie 

Kansas,  I 

be  very 

Where 

idor  is  a 

iless,  im- 

1  of  the 

maidens 

s.    They 

qualities. 

ed — but 

2ttlers  in 

carrying 
jttlement. 


AMONO  THE   AMERICANS. 


22 


.") 


communication  with  a  city  somewhere.  If  a  bridge  gives 
way,  like  that  on  the  Tay  lately  among  us,  fewer  lives  are 
lost  there  than  would  be  worn  out  by  walking  and  dragging 
produce  over  unbridged  distances,  and  often  going  without 
needful  things  for  the  household,  because  they  could  not  be 
got. 

In  the  United  States  there  are  newspapers  of  as  great  in- 
tegrity, judges  as  pure,  and  members  of  Parliament  as  clean- 
handed as  in  England ;  but  the  public  indignation  at  finding 
it  otherwise  is  nothing  like  so  great  there  as  here.  John 
Stuart  Mill  said  that  the  working  classes  of  all  countries 
lied — it  being  the  vice  of  the  slave  caste — but  English  working 
men  alone  were  ashamed  of  lying,  and  I  was  proud  to  find 
that  my  countrymen  of  this  class  have  not  lost  this  latent 
attribute  of  manliness;  and  I  would  rather  they  were  known 
for  the  quality  of  speaking  the  truth,  though  the  devil  was 
looking  them  square  in  the  face,  than  see  them  possess  any 
repute  for  riches,  or  smartness,  without  it.  Far  be  it  from 
me  to  suggest  that  Americans,  as  a  rule,  do  not  possess  the 
capacity  of  truth,  but  in  trade  they  do  not  strike  you  as 
exercising  the  talent  with  the  same  success  that  they  show 
in  many  other  ways.  However,  there  is  a  certain  kind  of 
candor  continually  manifested,  which  has  at  least  a  nega- 
tive merit.  If  a  *  smart'  American  does  a  crooked  thing,  he 
does  not  pretend  that  it  is  straight.  When  I  asked  what 
was  understood  to  be  the  difference  between  a  republican 
and  a  democrat,  I  was  answered  by  one  of  those  persons, 
too  wise  and  too  pure  to  be  of  any  use  in  this  world,  who 
profess  to  be  of  no  party — none  being  good  enough  for 
them;  he  said,  *  republicans  and  democrats  profess  different 


226 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


things,  but  they  both  do  the  same.*  *  Your  answer,'  I  re- 
plied, '  comes  very  near  the  margin  of  giving  me  informa- 
tion. What  are  the  different  things,*  I  asked,  *  which  they 
do  profess?*  The  answer  was,  *  The  republicrms  profess  to 
be  honest,  but  the  democi  ats  do  not  even  profess  that.*  My 
sympathies,  I  intimated,  lay  therefore  with  the  republicans, 
since  they  who  admit  they  know  what  they  ought  to  be, 
probably  incline  to  it.  However  impetuous  Americans  may 
be,  they  have  one  great  grace  of  patience :  they  listen  like 
gentlemen.  An  American  audience,  anywhere  gathered 
together,  make  the  most  courteous  listeners  in  the  world. 
If  a  speaker  has  only  the  gift  of  making  a  fool  of  himself, , 
nowhere  has  he  so  complete  an  opportunity  of  doing  it.  If 
he  has  the  good  fortune  to  be  but  moderately  interesting, 
and  obviously  tries  in  some  humble  way,  natural  to  him,  to 
add  to  their  information,  they  come  to  him  afterwards  and 
congratulate  him  with  Parisian  courtesy.  At  Washington, 
where  I  spoke  at  the  request  of  General  Mussey  and  Major 
Ford,  and  in  Cornell  University  at  Ithaca,  where,  at  the 
request  of  the  Acting  President,  Professor  W.  C.  Russell,  I 
addressed  the  students  upon  the  *  Moral  effects  of  Co-opera- 
tion upon  Industrial  and  Commercial  Society.*  There  were 
gentlemen  and  ladies  present  who  knew  more  of  everything 
than  I  did  about  anything;  yet  they  conveyed  to  me  their 
impression  that  I  had  in  some  way  added  to  their  informa- 
tion. Some  political  colleagues  of  mine  have  gone  to  Amer- 
ica. In  this  country  they  had  a  bad  time  of-  it.  In  the 
opinion  of  most  official  persons  of  their  day,  they  ought  to 
have  been  in  prison;  and  some  narrowly  escaped  it.  In 
America  they  ultimately  obtained  State  employment,  which 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


227 


ver,'  I  re- 
!  informa- 
irhich  they 
i  profess  to 
hat.'     My 
jpublicans, 
jht  to  be, 
ricans  may 
listen  like 
I  gathered 
the  world. 
3f  himself, . 
ng  it.     If 
nteresting, 
to  him,  to 
wards  and 
ashington, 
and  Major 
;re,  at  the 
Russell,  I 
Co-opera- 
'here  were 
jverything 
»  me  their 
r  informa- 
2  to  Amer- 
t.     In  the 
■f  ought  to 
ed  it.     In 
ent,  which 


here  thr  /  never  would  have  obtained  to  their  latest  day. 
Yet  tht  r  letters  home  were  so  disparaging  of  America,  as 
to  encourage  all  defamers  of  its  people  and  institutions.  This 
incited  me  to  look  for  every  feature  of  discontent.  What  I 
saw  to  the  contrary  I  did  not  look  for — ^but  could  not  over- 
look when  it  came  upon  me. 

John  Stuart  Mill  I  knew  was  at  one  time  ruined  by  re- 
pudiators  in  America,  but  that  did  not  lead  him  to  condemn 
that  system  of  freedom  which  must  lead  to  public  honor 
coming  into  permanent  ascendency.      For   myself,  I  am 
sufficiently  a  Comtist  to  think  that  humanity  is  greater  and 
sounder  than  any  special  men ;  and  believe  that  great  con- 
ditions of  freedom  and  self-action  can  alone  render  possible 
general  progress.    Great  evils  in  American  public  life,  from 
which  we  are  free  in  England,  have  been  so  dwelt  upon 
iiere,  that  the  majority  of  working  men  will  be  as  much 
surprised  as  I  was,  to  find  that  American  life  has  in  it  ele- 
ments of  progress  which  we  in  England  lack.    Still  I  saw 
there  were  spots  in  the  great  sun.    The  certainty  of  an 
earthquake  every  four  years  in  England  would  not  more 
distress  us  or  divert  the.  current  of  business,  than  the  Ameri- 
can system  of  having  100,000  office-holders,  liable  to  dis- 
placement every  Presidential  election.     Each  placeman  has, 
I  *  calculate,'  at  least  nine  friends  who  watch  and  work  to 
keep  him  where  he  is.      Then  there  are  100,000  more  per- 
sons, candidates  for  the  offices  to  be  vacated  by  those  already 
in  place.     Each  of  these  aspirants  has  on  the  average  as 
many  personal  friends  who  devote  themselves  to  getting  him 
installed.      So  there  are  two  millions  of  the  most    active 
politicians  in  the  country  always   battling  for  places — not 


228 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS, 


perhaps  regardless  altogether  of  principle :  but  subordinating 
the  assertion  of  principle  to  the  command  of  places.  The 
wonder  is  that  the  progress  made  in  America  occurs  at  all^ 
Colonel  Robert  Ingersoll,  during  the  enchanted  days  when 
I  was  his  guest  in  Washington,  explained  it  all  to  me,  and 
gave  reasons  for  it  with  the  humor  and  wit  for  which  he  is 
unrivalled  among  public  speakers  among  us:  nevertheless  I 
remain  of  the  same  opinion  still.  This  system,  although  a 
feature  of  republican  administration,  is  quite  distinct  from 
republican  principle,  and  has  to  be  changed,  though  the 
duration  of  the  practice  renders  it  as  difficult  to  alter  as  it 
would  be  to  change  the  diet  of  a  nation. 

It  would  take  too  long  now  to  recount  half  the  droll  in- 
stances in  which  our  cousins  of  the  new  world  rise  above  and 
fall  below  ourselves.  Their  habit  of  interviewing  strangers 
is  the  most  amusing  and  useful  institution  conceivable.  I 
have  personal  knowledge,  and  others  more  than  myself,  of 
visitors  to  England  of  whom  the  public  never  hear.  Many 
would  be  glad  to  call  upon  them  and  show  them  civility  or 
give  them  thanks  for  services  they  have  rendered  to  public 
progress,  elsewhere,  in  one  form  or  other.  But  the  general 
public  never  know  of  their  presence.  These  sojourners 
among  us  possess  curious,  often  valuable  knowledge,  and 
no  journalists  ask  them  any  questions,  or  announce,  or  de« 
cribe  them,  or  inform  the  town  where  they  are  to  be  found. 
Every  newspaper  reader  in  the  land  might  be  the  richer  in 
ideas  for  their  visit,  but  they  nasb  away  with  their  unknown 
wealth  of  experience,  of  which  he  might  have  partaken. 
There  is  no  appointment  on  the  press  to  be  more  coveted 
than  that  of  being  an  interviewer  to  a  great  journal.     The 


AMONG   THB   AMERICANS. 


229 


ordinating 
ices.  The 
urs  at  all 

• 

lays  when 
o  me,  and 
hich  he  is 
jrtheless  I 
Ithough  a 
tinct  from 
lough  the 
alter  as  it 

!  droll  in- 
ibove  and 
strangers 
ivable.  I 
nyself,  of 
•.  Many 
ivility  or 
to  public 
e  general 
ojourners 
:dge,  and 
:e,  or  de- 
be  found, 
richer  in 
unknown 
partaken. 
J  coveted 
lal.    The 


Art  of  Interviewing  is  not  yet  developed  and  systematized 
as  it  might  be.  Were  I  asked  *  What  is  the  beginning  of 
wisdom?'  I  should  answer — 'It  is  the  art  of  asking  ques- 
tions.' The  world  has  had  but  one  master  of  the  art,  and 
Socrates  has  had  no  successor.  With  foolish  questioning 
most  persons  are  familiar — wise  questioning  is  a  neglected 
study.  The  first  interviewer  who  did  nie  the  honor  to  call 
upon  me  at  the  Hoffman  House  in  New  York,  represented 
a  democratic  paper  of  acknowledged  position :  being  a  stran- 
ger to  the  operation  of  interviewing,  I  first  interviewed  the 
interviewer,  and  put  to  him  more  questions  than  he  put  to 
me.  When  I  came  to  read  his  report  all  my  part  in  the 
proceedings  recounted  was  left  out.  He  no  doubt  knew 
best  what  would  interest  the  readers  of  the  journal  he  rep- 
resented. I  told  him  that  an  English  gentleman  of  political 
repute  was  interested  in  an  American  enterprise,  and  had 
asked  me  to  go  to  North  Alabama  with  a  view  to  judge  of 
its  fitness  for  certain  emigrants.  I  put  the  question  to  him 
whether  in  the  South  generally  it  mattered  what  an  emi- 
grant's political  views  were,  if  he  was  personally  an  addition 
to  the  industrial  force  and  property  of  the  place,  obsei*ving 
incidentally  that  I  saw  somebody  had  just  shot  a  doctor 
through  the  back,  who  had  decided  views  about  something. 
His  answer  has  never  passed  from  my  memory.  It  was 
this: — ^*  Well,  if  a  man  will  make  his  opinions  prominent, 
what  can  he  expect?'  I  answered,  that  might  be  rather 
hard  on  me,  since  though  I  might  not  make  my  opinions 
♦prominent,'  they  might  be  thought  noticeable,  and  a  censor 


230 


AMONO   THE   AMERICANS. 


with  a  Derringer  might  not  discriminate  in  my  favor.* 
This,  however,  did  not  deter  me  from  going  South.  The 
yellow  fever  lay  in  my  way  at  Memphis,  and  I  did  not  feel 
as  though  I  wanted  the  yellow  fever.  I  was  content  with 
going  near  enough  to  it  to  fall  in  with  people  who  had  it,  and 
who  were  fleeing  from  the  infected  city.  No  doubt  the 
.rapidity  of  my  chatter  upon  strange  topics  did  confuse  some 
interviewers.  Now  and  then  I  read  a  report  of  an  interview, 
and  did  not  know  that  it  related  to  me  until  I  read  the  title 
of  it.  One  day  I  met  a  wandering  English  gentleman,  who 
had  just  read  an  interview  with  me,  when  he  exclaimed, 
*My  dear  Holyoakel  how  could  you  say  that?'  when  I  an- 
swered, *  My  dear  VerdantsonI  how  could  you  suppose  I 
ever  did  say  it?'  When  in  remote  cities  I  fell  in  with  inter- 
viewers who  were  quite  unfamiliar  with  my  ways  of  thought 
and  speech,  I  tried  the  experiment  of  saying  exactly  the 
opposite  of  what  I  meant.  To  my  delight  next  day  I  found 
it  had  got  turned  upside  down  in  the  writer's  mind,  and 
came  out  exactly  right.  But  I  had  to  be  careful  with  whom 
I  did  this,  for  most  interviewers  were  very  shrewd  and 
skilful,  and  put  me  under  great  obligations  for  their  render- 
ing of  what  I  said.f     If  English  press  writers  interviewed 


♦We  are  not  without  experience  somewhat  of  this  kind  in  England. 
At  Bolton,  when  Sir  Charles  Dilke,  M.  P.,  was  lecturing  there  on 
the  'Cost  of  the  Crown,'  a  very  harmless  subject,  one  of  the  royalists 
of  the  town  hurled  a  brick  through  the  window  of  the  hall,  intended 
for  the  speaker,  which  killed  one  of  the  audience.  Sir  Charles  was 
♦merely  making  his  opinions  prominent. 

fThe  Kansas  City  "Times"  published  an  'Interview  with  Gen. 
George  Holyoake.'     This  was  discerning  courtesy.    Down  there 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


231 


ly  favor.* 
iith.  The 
d  not  feel 
itent  with 
had  it,  and 
doubt  the 
fuse  some 
interview, 
d  the  title 
man,  who 
xclaimed, 
hen  I  an- 
mppose  I 
^ith  inter- 
f  thought 
actly  the 
y  I  found 
lind,  and 
ith  whom 
ewd  and 
ir  render- 
erviewed 

1  England. 
J  there  on 
le  royalists 
1,  intended 
harles  was 

with  Gen. 
>wn  there 


visitors  from  a  country  unfamiliar  to  them,  they  would  make 
as  many  misconceptions  as  are  ever  met  with  in  America.  I 
have  never  known  but  two  men,  not  Englishmen — Mazzini 
and  Mr.  G.  W.  Smalley,  the  London  correspondent  of  the 
*New  York  Tribune' — who  understood  public  affairs  in 
England  as  we  understand  them  ourselves.  Even  Louis 
Blanc  is  hardly  their  equal,  though  a  rival  in  that  rare  art. 

When  leaving  England  I  was  asked  by  the  Co-operative 
Guild  of  London  to  ascertain  in  my  travels  in  America  what 
were  the  conditions  and  opportunities  of  organizing  Co- 
operative Emigration.  As  this  was  one  of  the  applications 
of  the  co-operative  principle  meditated  by  the  Co-operators 
of  1830,  and  which  has  slept  out  of  sight  of  this  generation, 
I  received  the  request  with  glad  surprise,  and  undertook  the 
commission. 

Pricked  by  poverty  and  despair,  great  numbers  of  emi- 
grant families  go  out  alone.  With  slender  means  and 
slenderer  knowledge,  they  are  the  prey,  at  every  stage,  of 
speculators,  agents,  and  harpies.  Many  become  penniless 
by  the  way,  and  never  reach  their  intended  place.  They 
hang  about  the  large  cities,  and  increase  the  competition 
among  workmen  already  too  many  there.  Unwelcome,  and 
unable  to  obtain  work,  they  become  a  new  burden  on  re- 

•diiBculties'  had  often  occurred,  and  a  'general'  being  supposed  to 
have  pistoUic  acquirements,  I  was  at  once  put  upon  a  level  with 
any  emergency.  It  was  in  Kansas  City,  where  a  Judge  trying  a 
murder  case  safd  to  those  present — 'Gentlemen,  the  court  wishes  you 
would  let  somebody  die  a  natural  death  down  here,  if  only  to  show 
strangers  what  an  excellent  climate  we  have.' 


232 


AMONG   THE   AMERICANS. 


luctant  and  overburdened  local  charity,  and  their  lot  is  as 
deplorable  as  that  from  which  they  have  fled.  Those  who 
hold  out  until  they  reach  the  land,  ignorant  of  all  local  facts 
of  soil,  climate,  or  malaria,  commence  *to  fight  the  wilder- 
ness'— a  mighty,  tongucless,  obdurate,  mysterious  adversary, 
who  gives  you  opulence  if  you  conquer  him — but  a  grave  if 
he  conquers  you.  What  silence  and  solitude,  what  friend- 
lessness  and  desolation,  the  first  years  bring  1  What  distance 
from  aid  in  sickness,  what  hardrhip  if  their  stores  are  scant 
— what  toil  through  pathless  v/oods  and  swollen  creeks  to 
carry  stock  to  market  and  bring  back  household  goods! 
Loss  of  civilized  intercourse,  familiarity  with  danger,  the 
determined  persistence,  the  iron  will,  the  animal  struggle  of 
the  settler's  life,  half  animalizes  him  also.  No  wonder  we 
find  the  victor  rich  and  rugged.  The  wonder  is  that  refine- 
ment is  as  common  in  America  as  it  is.  Stout-hearted  emi- 
grants do  succeed  by  themselves,  and  achieve  marvellous 
prosperity.  Nor  would  I  discourage  any  from  making  the 
attempt.  To  mitigate  the  diflSculties  by  devices  of  co-opera- 
tive foresight  is  a  work  of  mercy  and  morality.  It  is  not 
the  object  of  the  London  Guild  to  incite  emigration,  nor  de- 
termine its  destination ;  but  to  enable  any  who  want  to  emi- 
grate to  form  an  intelligent  decision,  and  to  aid  them  to 
carry  it  out  with  the  greatest  chances  of  personal  and  moral 
advantage. 

In  New  York  I  found  there  had  lately  been  formed  a 
*  Co-operative  Colony  Aid  Association'  (represented  by  the 
'Worker,'  published  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Thompson,  and 
edited  by  the  Rev.  R.  Heber  Newton),  of  which  Mr.  E.  E. 
Barnum,  Dr.  Felix  Adler,  Mr.  E.  V.  Smalley,  the  Rev.  Dr. 


AMONG    THE    AMERICANS. 


233 


"  lot  is  as 
hose  who 
ocal  facts 
Jc  wilder- 
jdversary, 
a  grave  if 
at  friend- 
it  distance 
are  scant 
creeks  to 
d  goods! 
nger,  the 
ruggle  of 
Dnder  we 
lat  refine- 
rted  emi- 
arvellous 
king  the 
:o-opera- 
It  is  not 
,  nor  de- 
t  to  emi- 
them  to 
id  moral 

3rmed  a 
i  by  the 
ion,  and 
r.  E.  E. 
lev.  Dr. 


Rylance,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  F.  Deems,  Mr.  Courtland 
Palmer,  Joseph  Seligman,  the  Hon.  John  Wheeler,  and 
others  were  promoters.  From  inquiries  in  the  city  (which 
I,  a  stranger,  thought  it  right  to  make)  I  found  that  these 
were  persons  whose  names  gave  the  society  prestige.  Mrs. 
Thompson  was  regarded  in  the  States,  as  the  Baroness 
Burdett  Coutts  is  in  England,  for  her  many  discerning  acts 
of  munificence.  To  them  I  was  indebted  for  the  opportunity 
of  addressing  a  remarkable  audience  in  the  Cooper  Institute, 
New  York — an  audience  which  included  journalists,  authors 
and  thinkers  on  social  questions,  State  Socialists,  and  Com- 
munists— an  audience  which  only  could  be  assembled  in 
New  York.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  Collyer  presided.  The 
object  of  the  Colony  Aid  Association  is  to  select  and  pur- 
chase land,  devise  the  general  arrangements  of  park,  co- 
operative store,  and  school-house;  erect  simple  dwellings, 
and  provide  food  for  the  colonists  until  crops  accrue ;  arrange 
for  the  conveyance  of  emigrants,  from  whatever  land  they 
come,  to  their  intended  settlement — providing  them  with 
escort  and  personal  direction  until  they  have  mastered  the 
conditions  of  their  new  life.  The  promoters  take  only  a 
moderate  interest  upon  the  capital  employed,  affording  these 
facilities  of  colonial  life  at  cost  price ;  acting  themselves  on 
the  entirely  wholesome  rule  of*  keeping  their  proceedings 
clear  alike  of  profit  and  charity.  There  is  no  reason  why 
emigration  should  not  be  as  pleasant  as  an  excursion,  and 
competence  rendered  secure  to  all  emigrants  of  industry, 
honesty,  and  common  sense.  It  soon  appeared  to  me  that 
land-selling  was  a  staple  trade  in  America  and  Canada — 
that  no  person  knew  the  whole  of  either  country.    From 


334 


AMONG    TUB   AMERICANS. 


visits  and  letters  I  received  from  land-holders  and  agents,  I 
doubted  not  that  there  were  many  honest  among  them. 
But  unless  you  had  much  spare  time  for  inquiry,  and  were 
fortunate  in  being  near  those  who  knew  them,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  make  out  which  the  honest  were.  Evidently, 
what  was  wanted  was  complete  and  trustworthy  informa- 
tion, which  everybody  must  know  to  be  such.  There  was 
but  one  source  whence  this  information  could  issue,  and  it 
seemed  a  duty  to  solicit  it  there.  If  information  of  general 
utility  was  to  be  obtained,  it  was  obviously  becoming  in 
me,  as  an  Englishman,  first  to  ask  it  of  the  Canadian  Gov- 
ernment, and  for  this  reason  I  went  over  to  Canada. 

Canaan  was  nothing  to  Canada.  Milk  and  honey  are 
very  well,  but  Canada  has  cream  and  peaches,  grapes  and 
wine.  I  went  gathering  grapes  in  Hamilton  by  moonlight 
— their  flavor  was  excellent,  and  bunches  abundant  beyond 
imagination.  The  mayor  of  Hamilton  did  me  the  honor  of 
showing  me  the  fruits  of  Canada,  on  exhibition  in  a  great 
fair  then  being  held.  Fruit-painters  in  water-colors  should 
go  to  Canada.  Hues  so  new,  various,  and  brilliant  have 
never  been  seen  in  an  English  exhibition  of  painters  in 
water-colors.  Nor  was  their  beauty  deceptive,  for  I  was 
permitted  to  taste  the  fruit,  when  I  found  that  its  delicate 
hue  was  but  an  *  outward  sign  of  its  inward '  richness  of 
flavor.  It  was  unexpected  to  find  the  interior  of  the  County 
Court  House  in  Hamilton  imposing  with  grace  of  design, 
rich  with  the  wood-carver's  art,  relieved  by  opulence  of 
space  and  convenience  of  arrangement  far  exceeding  any- 
thing observed  in  the  Parliament  Houses  of  Ottawa  or  of 
Washington.    The  Parliamentary  buildings  of  Canada,  like 


AMONG  THE   AMERICANS. 


335 


r 


J  agents,  I 
ong  them, 
and  were 
would  be 
Evidently, 
informa- 
^here  was 
ue,  and  it 
>f  general 
oming  in 
ian  Gov- 
ia. 

loney  are 
apes  and 
loonlight 
t  beyond 
honor  of 
'  a  great 
s  should 
mt  have 
inters  in 
r  I  was 
delicate 
mess  of 
County 
design, 
ence  of 
g  any- 
»  or  of 
ia,Iike 


_ 


those  of  the  capitol  at  Washington,  are  worthy  of  the 
great  countries  in  which  they  stand ;  but  were  I  a  subject  of 
the  Dominion,  or  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  I  would  %o 
without  one  dinner  a  year  in  order  to  subscribe  to  a  fund  for 
paying  wood-carvers  to  impart  to  the  debating  chambers  a 
majestic  sense  of  national  durability  associated  with  splendor 
of  art.  The  State  House  of  Washington  and  the  Library 
of  the  Parliament  of  Ottawa,  have  rooms  possessing  qual- 
ities which  are  not  exceeded  in  London  by  any  devoted  to 
similar  purposes.  The  dining-room  of  the  Hotel  Brunswick 
in  Madison  Square,  New  York,  has  a  reflected  beauty 
derived  from  its  bright  and  verdant  surroundings;  with 
which  its  interior  is  coherent.  But  the  Windsor  Hotel  of 
Montreal  impressed  me  more  than  any  other  I  saw.  The 
entrance-hall,  with  its  vast  and  graceful  dome,  gave  a  sense 
of  space  and  dignity  which  the  hotels  of  Chicago  and  Sara- 
toga, enormous  as  they  are,  lacked.  The  stormy  Lake  of 
Ontario,  and  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  miles  in  length,  its 
thousand  islands,  and  its  furious  rapids,  with  the  United 
States  and  Canadian  shores  on  either  hand,  gave  me  an  idea 
of  the  scenic  glory  of  Canada,  utterly  at  variance  with  the 
insipid  rigor  and  frost-bound  gloom  which  I  had  associated 
with  the  country.  A  visitor  from  the  United  States  does 
not  travel  thirty  miles  into  Canada  without  feeling  that  the 
shadow  of  the  Crown  is  there.  Though  there  was  mani- 
festly less  social  liberty  among  the  people,  the  civic  and 
political  independence  of  the  Canadian  cities  seemed  to  me 
to  equal  that  of  the  United  States.  The  abounding  cour- 
tesy of  the  press,  and  the  cultivated  charm  of  expression  by 
the  «  Spectator"  of  Hamilton  and  the  «  Globe  "  of  Toronto, 


236 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


were  equal  to  anything  I  observed  anywhere.  And  not 
JOSS  were  the  instances  of  private  and  official  courtesy  of 
the  country. 

At  Ottawa  I  had  the  honor  of  an  interview  with  the 
Premier,  Sir  John  Macdonald,  at  his  private  residence. 
The  Premier  of  Canada  had  the  repute,  I  knew,  of  bearing 
a  striking  likeness  to  the  late  Premier  of  England;  but  I 
was  not  prepared  to  find  the  resemblance  so  remarkable. 
Excepting  that  Sir  John  is  less  in  stature  than  Lord 
Beaconsfield,  persons  who  saw  them  .apart  might  mistake  one 
for  the  other.  On  presenting  a  letter  from  Mr.  Witton  (of 
Hamilton,  a  former  member  of  the  Canadian  Parliament), 
myself  and  Mr.  Charlton  were  admitted  to  an  audience 
with  Sir  John,  whom  I  found  a  gentleman  of  frank  and 
courtly  manners,  who  permitted  me  to  believe  that  he  would 
take  into  consideration  the  proposal  I  made  to  him  that  the 
Government  of  Canada  should  issue  a  blue-book  upon  the 
emigrant  conditions  of  the  entire  Dominion,  similar  to  those 
formerly  given  to  us  in  England  by  Lord  Clarendon  *  On 
the  Condition  of  the  Laboring  Classes  abroad',  furnishing 
details  of  the  prospects  of  employment,  settlement,  educa- 
tion, tenure  of  land,  climatic  conditions,  and  the  purchasing 
power  of  money.  Sir  John  kindly  undertook  to  receive 
from  me,  as  soon  as  I  should  be  able  to  draw  it  up,  a  scheme 
of  particulars,  similar  to  that  which  I  prepared  some  years 
ago,  at  the  request  of  Lord  Clarendon.  A  speech  of  Lord 
Beaconsfield's  was  at  that  time  much  discussed  by  the 
American  and  Canadian  press,  as  Sir  John  Macdonald  had 
recently  been  on  a  visit  to  Lord  Beaconsfield.  Sir  John 
explained  to  me  in  conversation  that  in  the  London  reports 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


237 


And  not 
)urtcsy  of 

with  the 
'esitlcncc. 
f  bearing 
id;  but  I 
larkablc. 
^n  Lord 
take  one 
'itton  (of 
lament), 
audience 
ink  and 
e  would 
that  the 
3on  the 
to  those 
m  'On 
iiishinjr 

educa- 
hasin 
receive 
cheme 

years 

Lord 
y  the 
d  had 

John 
Bports 


OP 

o 


of  Lord  Beaconsfield's  speech,  there  appeared  the  mistake 
of  converting  'wages  of  sixteen  dollars  per  month'  into 
*  wages  of  sixteen  shillings  per  day,'  and  of  describing  emi- 
gration '  west  of  the  State '  as  emigration  from  the  '  West- 
ern States.'  This  enabled  me  to  point  out  to  Sir  John  that 
if  these  misapprehensions  could  arise  in  the  mind  of  one  so 
acute  as  Lord  Beaconsfield,  as  to  information  given  by  an 
authority  so  eminent  and  exact  as  Sir  John  himself,  it 
showed  how  great  was  the  need  which  the  English  public 
must  feel  of  accurate  and  official  information  upon  facts, 
with  which  they  were  necessarily  unfamiliar.  Afterwards 
I  had  the  pleasure  of  dining  with  the  Minister  of  Agricul- 
ture, the  Hon.  John  Henry  Pope.  Both  myself  and  my 
friend  Mr.  Charlton,  who  was  also  a  guest,  were  struck 
with  the  Cobbett-Hke  vigor  of  statement  which  character- 
ized Mr.  Pope.  He  explained  the  Canadian  theory  of 
protection  as  dispassionately  as  Cobden  would  that  of  Free 
Trade.  Mr.  Pope  had  himself,  I  found,  caused  to  appear 
very  valuable  publications  of  great  service  to  emigrants.  He 
admitted,  however,  that  there  might  be  advantage  in  com- 
bining all  the  information  in  one  book  which  would  be  uni- 
versally accessible,  and  known  to  be  responsible.  I  was 
struck  by  one  remark  of  this  minister  worth  repeating : — 
'  In  Canada,'  he  said,  '  we  have  but  one  enemy — cold,  and 
he  is  a  steady,  but  manageable  adversary,  for  whose  advent 
we  can  prepare  and  whose  time  of  departure  we  know. 
While  in  America,  malaria,  ague,  fluctuation  of  temperature 
are  intermittent.  Science  and  sanitary  provision  will,  in 
time,  exterminate  some  dangers,  while  watchfulness  will 
always  be  needed  in  regard  to  others.' 


I 
! 


?38 


AMONG  THK   AMERICANS. 


Sub  equently  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  make  a  similiar 
prop(>!.iil  to  the  Government  of  Washington.  Colonel 
Robert  Ingersoll  introduced  me  to  Mr.  Evarts,  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  who  with  the  courtesy  I  had  heard  ascribed 
to  him,  gave  immediate  attention  to  the  subject.  Looking 
at  me  with  his  wise  penetrating,  eyes,  he  laid,  *  You  know 
Mr.  Holyoake,  the  difficulty  the  Federal  Government  would 
have  in  obtaining  the ' collective  information  you  wish.' 
Then  he  stated  the  difficulties  with  precision,  showing  that 
he  instantly  comprehended  the  scope  of  the  proposed  red- 
book;  without  at  all  suggesting  that  the  difficulties  were 
obstacles.  So  far  as  I  could  observe,  an  American  states- 
man, of  any  quality,  does  not  believe  in  *  obstacles  *  to  any 
measure  of  public  utility.  I  was  aware  that  the  Federal 
Government  had  no  power  to  obtain  from  the  different 
States  reports  of  the  kind  required,  but  Mr.  Evarts  admitted 
that  if  he  were  to  ask  the  Governor  of  each  State  to  fur- 
nish him  with  the  information  necessary  for  emigrant  use, 
with  a  view  to  include  it  in  an  official  account  of  the  emi- 
grant features  of  all  the  States,  he  would  no  doubt  receive 
it.  I  undertook,  on  my  return  to  England,  to  forward  to 
him,  after  consulting  with  the  Co-operative  Guild,  a  scheme 
of  the  kind  of  red-book  required.  Mr.  Evarts  permitted 
me  to  observe  that  many  persons,  as  he  must  well  know, 
come  to  America  and  profess  themselves  dissatisfied.  They 
find  many  things  better  than  they  could  have  hoped  to  find 
them,  but  since  they  were  not  what  they  expected,  they 
ivere  never  reconciled.  The  remedy  was  to  provide  real 
information  of  the  main  things  they  would  find.     Then  they 


I      ! 


AMONG   TUB    AMERICANS. 


239 


a  similiar 
Colonel 
;he  Secre- 
d  ascribed 
Looking 
fou  know 
lent  would 
'^ou  wish.' 
I  wing  that 
posed  red- 
ilties  were 
can  states- 
es'  to  any 
le  Federal 
e  different 
:s  admitted 
ate  to  fur- 
grant  use, 
f  the  emi- 
ibt  receive 
brward  to 
a  scheme 
permitted 
irell  know, 
ed.     Thev 
3ed  to  find 
cted,  they 
ovide  real 
Then  they 


would  come  intelligently  if  they  came  at  all,  and  stay  con- 
tented.    General  Mussey  did  me  the  favor  of  taking  me  to 
the  White  House,  and  introducing  me  to  the  President  and 
Mrs.  Hayes,  where  I  had  the  opportunity  also  of  meeting 
General  Sherman,  who  readily  conversed  upon  the  subject 
of  my  visit,  and  made  many  observations  very  instructive  to 
me.     Mrs.   Hayes  is  a  very  interesting  lady,  of  engaging 
ways  and  remarkable  animation   of  expression,  quite  free 
from  excitement.     She  had  been  in  Kansas  with  the  Presi- 
dent a  few  days  before,  and'  kindly  remarked  as  something 
I  should  be  glad  to  hear,  that  she  found  on  the  day  they  left 
that  every  colored  person  who  had  arrived  there  from  the 
South  was  in  some  place  of  emploj'ment.    The  President 
had  a  bright,  frank  manner;  and  he  listened  with  such  a 
grace  of  patience,  to  the  nature  and  reason  of  the  request  I 
had  made  to  Mr.  Evarts,  and  which  I  asked  him  to  sanction, 
if  he  approved  of  it,  that  I  began  to  think  that  my  pleasure 
at  seeing  him  would  end  with  my  telling  my  story.     He 
had,  however,  only  taken  time  to  hear  entirely  to  what  it 
amounted,  when  he  explained  his  view  of  it  with  a  sagacity 
,  and  completeness  and  a  width  of  illustration  which  surprised 
me.     He  described  to  me  the  different  qualities  of  the  vari- 
ous nationalities  of  emigrants  in  the  States,  expressing — 
what  I  had  never  heard  anyone  do  before — a  very  high 
opinion  of  the  Welsh,  whose  good  sense  and  success  as 
colonists   had  come    under    his    observation.      Favorable 
opinions  were  expressed  by  leading  journals  in  America  upon 
the  suggestion  above  described.    To  some  it  seemed  of  such 
obvious  utility  that  wonder  was  felt  that  it  had  never  been 


240 


AMONG   THE    AMBRICANS. 


made  before.  If  its  public  usefulness  continues  apparent 
after  due  consideration,  no  doubt  a  book  of  the  nature  in 
question  will  be  issued. 

There  is  no  law  in  America  which  permits  co-operation 
to  be  commenced  in  the  humble,  unaided  way  in  which  it 
has  arisen  in  England.  When  I  pointed  this  out  to  the  gen- 
tlemen of  the  Colony  Aid  Association,  the  remark  was 
made,  '  Then  we  will  get  a  law  for  the  purpose.'  In 
England,  working  men  requiring  an  improvement  in  the 
law  have  thought  themselves  fortunate  in  living  till  the  day 
when  a  Member  of  Parliament  could  be  induced  to  put  a 
question  oti  the  subject;  and  the  passing  of  a  Bill  has  been 
.in  expectation  inherited  by  their  children,  and  not  always 
realized  in  their  time.  Emerson  has  related  that  when  it 
was  found  that  the  pensions  awarded  to  soldiers  disabled  in 
the  war,  or  to  the  families  of  those  who  were  killed,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  unscrupulous  *  claim  agents,'  a  private 
policeman  in  New  York  conceived  the  plan  of  a  new  law 
which  would  enable  every  person  entitled  to  the  money  to 
surely  receive  it.  Obtaining  leave  of  absence  he  went  to 
Washington,  and  obtained,  on  his  own  representation,  the 
passing  of  two  acts  which  effected  this  reform.  I  found  the 
policeman  to  be  an  old  friend  of  mine,  Mr.  George  S.  Mc- 
Watters,  whom  I  found  now  to  be  an  officer  of  Customs  in 
New  York.  An  instance  of  this  kind  is  unknown  in  this 
country.  Emerson  remarks  that,  *  having  freedom  in 
America,  this  accessibility  to  legislators,  and  promptitude  of 
redressing  wrong,  are  the  means  by  which  it  is  sustained 
and  extended.' 


AMONG   Tim   AMERICANS. 


241 


apparent 
lature  in 

jperation 
which  it 
the  gen- 
lark  was 
ose.'     In 
It  in  the 
1  the  day 
to  put  a 
has  been 
•t  always 
:  when  it 
sabled  in 
illed,  fell 
I  private 
new  law 
noney  to 
went  to 
ition,  the 
bund  the 
5  S.  Mc- 
istoms  in 
n  in  this 
edom   in 
titude  of 
lustained 


Before  leaving  Washington,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  call 
at  the  British  Embassy,  and  communicate  to  His  Excellency 
Sir  Edward  Thornton,  particulars  of  the  request  I  had  made 
to  the  Governments  of  Canada  and  of  the  United  States; 
since,  if  His  Excellency  should  be  able  to  approve  of  the 
object  thereof,  it  would  be  an  important  recommendation  of 
it,  I  pointed  out  to  Sir  Edward  that  *  though  public  docu- 
ments were  issued  by  the  departments  of  both  Govern- 
ments, the  classes  most  needing  them  knew  neither  how  to 
collect  or  collate  them,  and  reports  of  interested  agents 
could  not  be  wholly  trusted ;  while  a  Government  will  not 
lie,  nor  exaggerate,  nor,  but  rarely,  conceal  the  truth.  Since 
the  British  Government  do  not  discourage  emigration,  and 
cannot  prevent  it,  it  is  better  that  our  poor  fellow-country- 
men should  be  put  in  possession  of  information  which  will 
enable  them  to  go  out  with  their  eyes  open,  instead  of  going 
out,  as  hitherto,  with  their  eyes  mostly  shut.*  I  ought  to 
add  here  that  the  Canadian  Minister  of  Agriculture  had 
sent  me  several  valuable  works  issued  in  the  Dominion, 
and  that  the  American  Government  have  presented  me 
with  many  works  of  a  like  nature,  and  upwards  of  five 
hundred  large  maps  of  consideraV '  /alue,  all  of  which  I 
have  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Guild  of  Co-operation  in 
London,  for  dispersion  amid  centres  of  workingmen,  with 
whom  the  founder  of  the  Guild,  Mr.  Hodgson  Pratt,  is  in 
communication. 

Because  I  admired  many  things  in  America,  I  did  not 
learn  to  undervalue  my  own  country,  but  came  back  think- 
ing more  highly  of  it  on  many  accounts  than  I  did  before. 
Not  a  word  escaped  me  which  disparaged  it.    In  Canada, 


242 


AMONG    TIIK   AMERICANS. 


as  well  as  in  America,  I  heard  expressed  the  oddest  ideas 
imaginable  of  the  decadence  of  England.  I  always  answer- 
ed that  John  Bull  was  as  sure-footed,  if  not  quite  so  nimble, 
as  Brother  Jonathan;  that  England  would  always  hold  up 
its  wilful  head ;  and  should  the  worse  come  to  be  very  bad, 
Uucle  Sam  would  superannuate  England,  and  apportion  it 
an  annuity  to  enable  it  to  live  comfortably;  doing  this  out 
of  regard  to  the  services  John  Bull  did  to  his  ancestors  long 
ago,  and  for  the  goodwill  the  English  people  have  shown 
Uncle  Sam  in  their  lucid  intervals.  As  yet,  I  added,  Eng- 
land has  inexhaustible  energies  of  its  own.  But  lately  it 
had  Cobden  with  his  passion  for  international  prosperity; 
and  John  Stuart  Mill  with  his  passion  for  truth;  it  has  still 
Bright  with  his  passion  for  justice;  Gladstone  with  his 
passion  for  conscience ;  and  Lord  Beaconsficld  with  his  pas- 
sion for — himself;  and  even  that  is  generating  in  the  people 
a  new  passion  for  democratic  independence.  The  two 
worlds  with  one  language  will  know  how  to  move  with 
equal  greatness  side  by  side.  Besides  the  inexhaustible 
individuality  and  energy  of  Americans  proper,  the  country 
is  enriched  by  all  the  unrest  and  genius  of  Europe.  I  was 
not  astonished  that  America  was  *  big ' — I  knew  that  before. 
What  I  was  astonished  at  was  the  inhabitants.  Nature 
made  the  country ;  it  is  freedom  which  has  made  the  people. 
I  went  there  without  prejudice,  belonging  to  that  class 
which  cannot  afford  to  have  prejudices.  I  went  there  not 
to  see  something  which  I  expected  to  see,  but  to  see  what 
there  was  to  be  seen,  what  manner  of  people  bestrode  those 
mighty  territories,  and  how  they  did  it,  and  what  they  did 
it  for;  in  what  spirit,  in  what  hope,  and  with  what  pros- 


AMONG   TUB   AMERICANS. 


343 


Id  est  ideas 
ya  answer- 
so  nimble, 
's  hold  up 

very  bad, 
pportion  it 
kg  this  out 

stors  long 
ive  shown 
ded,  Eng- 
it  lately  it 
)rosperity ; 

it  has  still 

with  his 
th  his  pas- 
the  people 

The  two 
nove  with 
ixhaustible 
le  country 
3e. '  I  was 
hat  before. 
>.  Nature 
:he  people. 

that  class 
t  there  not 
)  see  what 
rode  those 
It  they  did 
vrhat  pros- 


pects. I  never  saw  the  human  mind  at  large  before  acting 
on  its  own  account — unhampered  by  prelate  or  king.  Every 
error  and  every  virtue  strive  there  for  mastery,  but  human- 
ity has  the  best  of  the  conflict,  and  progress  is  uppermost. 
Co-operation,  v/hich  substitutes  evolution  for  revolution  in 
securing  competence  to  labor,  may  have  a  great  career  in 
the  New  World.  In  America  the  Germans  have  intelli- 
gence; the  French  brightness;  the  Welsh  persistence;  the 
Scotch  that  success  which  comes  to  all  men  who  know  how 
to  lie  in  wait  to  serve.  The  Irish  attract  all  sympathy  to 
them  by  tjieir  humor  of  imagination  and  boundless  capacity 
of  discontent.  The  English  maintain  their  steady  purpose, 
and  look  with  meditative,  bovine  eyes  upon  the  novelties  of 
life  around  them,  wearing  out  the  map  of  a  new  path  with 
looking  at  it,  befoi^  making  up  their  mind  to  take  it;  but 
the  fertile  and  adventurous  American,  when  he  condescends 
to  give  co-operation  attention,  will  devise  new  applications 
of  the  principle  unforeseen  here.  In  America  I  received 
deputations  from  real  State  Socialists,  but  did  not  expect  to 
find  that  some  of  them  were  Englishmen.  But  I  knew 
them  as  belonging  to  that  olass  of  politicians  at  home  who 
were  always  expecting  something  to  be  done  for  them,  and 
who  had  not  acquired  the  wholesome  American  instinct  of 
doing  something  for  themselves.  Were  Statp  workshops 
established  in  that  country,  they  would  not  have  a  single 
occupant  in  three  months.  New  prospects  open  so  rapidly 
in  America,  and  so  many  people  go  in  pursuit  of  them,  that 
I  met  with  men  who  had  been  in  so  many  places  that  they 
seemed  to  have  forgotten  where  they  were  born.  If  the 
bit  of  Paternal  Government  could  be  got  into  the  mouth  of 


244 


AMONG  THB   AMERICANS. 


an  American,  it  would  drop  out  in  a  day — he  opens  his 
mouth  so  often  to  give  his  opinion  on  things  in  general. 
The  point  which  seemed  to  be  of  most  interest  to  American 
thinkers,  was  that  feature  of  co-operation  which  enables 
working  men  to  acquire  capital  without  having  any,  to  save 
without  diminishing  any  comfort,  to  grow  rich  by  the 
accumulation  of  savings  which  they  had  never  put  by, 
through  intercepting  profits  by  economy  in  distribution. 
Meditating  self-employment  by  associative  gains,  English 
co-operators  do  not  complain  of  employers  who  they  think 
treat  them  unfairly,  nor  enter  into  defiant  negotiations,  nor 
make  abject  supplications  for  increase  of  wages ,  they  take 
steps  to  supersede  unpleasant  employers.  With  steam 
transit  ready  for  every  man's  service,  with  the  boundless 
and  fruitful  fields  of  Australia,  America  and  Canada  open  to 
them,  the  policy  of  self  protection  is  to  withdraw  from 
those  employers  and  places  with  whom  or  where  no  profit- 
able business  can  be  done.  To  dispute  with  capital  which 
carries  a  sword  is  a  needless  and  disastrous  warfare,  even  if 
victory  should  attend  the  murderous  struggle.  Even  the 
negro  of  the  South  has  learned  the  wisdom  of  withdrawing 
himself.  He  has  learned  to  fight  without  striking  a  blow ; 
he  leaves  the  masters  who  menace  him.  If  he  turned  upon 
them-  he  would  be  cut  down  without  hesitation  or  mercy. 
By  leaving  them,  their  estates  become  worthless,  and  he 
causes  his  value  to  be  perceived  without  the  loss  of  a  single 
life. 

I  learned  in  America  two  things  never  before  apparent 
to  me,  and  to  which  I  never  heard  a  reference  at  home: 
First,  that  the  dispersion  of  unrequited  workmen  in  Europe 


AMONG   THE    AMERICANS. 


245 


jpcns  his 

general. 

American 

enables 

Yi  to  save 

I  by  the 

put  by, 
tribution. 

English 
ley  think 
ions,  nor 
hey  take 
h  steam 
•oundless 
\  open  to 
iw  from 
o  profit- 
al  which 
even  if 

ven  the 
drawing 

a  blow ; 
ed  upon 

mercy. 

and  he 

a  single 

pparent 
t  home: 
Europe 


should  be  a  primary  principle  of  popular  amelioration, 
which  would  compel  greater  changes  in  the  quality  of 
freedom  and  industrial  equity  than  all  the  speculations  of 
philosophers,  or  the  measures  of  contending  politicians. 
Secondly,  that  the  child  of  every  poor  man  should  be  edu- 
cated for  an  emigrant,  and  trained  and  imbued  with  a 
knowledge  of  unknown  countries,  and  inspired  with  the 
spirit  of  adventure  therein;  and  that  all  education  is  half 
worthless — is  mere  mockery  of  the  poor  child's  fortune — 
which  does  not  train  him  in  physical  strength,  in  the  art  of 
*  fighting  the  wilderness,'  and  such  mechanical  knowledge 
as  shall  conduce  to  success  therein.  I  am  for  workmen 
being  given  whatever  education  gentlemen  have,  and  in- 
cluding in  it  such  instruction  as  shall  make  a  youth  so  much 
of  a  carpenter  and  a  farmer  that  he  shall  know  how  to  clear 
ground,  put  up  a  log-house,  and  understand  land,  crops, 
and  the  management  of  live  stock.  Without  this  knowledge, 
a  mechanic,  or  clerk,  or  even  an  M.  A.,  of  Oxford,  is  more 
helpless  than  a  common  farm-laborer,  who  cannot  spell  the 
name  of  the  poor-house  which  sent  him  out.  We  have  in 
Europe  surplus  population.  Elsewhere  lie  rich  and  surplus 
acres.  The  new  need  of  progress  is  to  transfer  overcrowd- 
ing workmen  to  the  unoccupied  prairies.  Parents  shrink 
from  the  idea  of  their  sons  having  to  leave  their  own  coun- 
try ;  but  they  have  to  do  this  when  they  become  soldiers — 
the  hateful  agents  of  empire — lately  carrying  desolation  and 
death  among  people  as  honest  as  themselves,  but  more 
unfortunate.  Half  the  courage  which  leads  young  men  to 
perish  at  Isandula,  or  on  the  rocks  of  Afghanistan,  would 
turn  into  a  Paradise  the  wildest  wilderness  in  the  world  of 


246 


AMONO  THE   AMERICANS. 


which  they  would  become  the  proprietors.  While  honest 
men  are  doomed  to  linger  anywhere  in  poverty  and  precar- 
iousness,  this  world  is  not  fit  for  a  gentleman  to  live  in. 
Dives  may  have  his  purple  and  fine  linen,  and  fare  sump- 
tuously every  day,  I,  for  one,  pray  that  the  race  of  Dives 
may  increase;  but  what  I  wish  also  is,  that  never  more 
shall  a  Lazarus  be  found  at  his  gates. 

George  Jacob  Holyoake. 


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